Madagascar will delay launching planned tenders on 40 offshore oil blocks until next year, the government's top official on extractive industries said on Oct. 13.

“Tenders will soon be launched on 40 offshore blocks in the Morondava Basin,” said Bonaventure Rasoanaivo, general director of the Office of National Mines and Strategic Industries.

“They should have been launched this year, but as the new petroleum code is not yet completed, tenders will be launched next year. We have 225 blocks, but they will not all be tendered,” he said at a government function.

The country’s Tsimiroro Field in the Morondava basin has an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil in place.

One of Africa’s poorest countries, Madagascar hopes to accelerate economic growth by developing natural resources, but has struggled to attract foreign investors due to political instability and falling commodity prices.