The Ministry of Energy has given greenlight for fourteen (14) companies to submit their bids for the five oil blocks government has offered for competitive bidding.

The companies were selected after they satisfied the pre-qualification requirements

This was contained in a statement signed by the Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Kofi Damoah.

The statement explained that out of the sixteen companies that put in application for the five oil blocks one presented a bid for an oil block meant for GNPC while the other one was disqualified for not meeting pre-qualification requirements.

"The fourteen companies that have been pre-qualified by the Committee for the next stage will be invited to submit their bids for the blocks for which they have been pre-qualified. Deadline for submission of bids will be on May 21, 2019 and the blocks are expected to be awarded to successful bidders in August 2019," the statement said.

According to the Ministry, it will write directly to all companies who submitted documentation for expression of interest and pre-qualification to inform them of the outcome of the evaluation process.

"We wish to assure all stakeholders that the Ministry will deliver a transparent licensing round for the good people of Ghana," it said.