2 days ago
Sierra Leone aims to be West Africa's newest oil and gas exploration frontier
Sierra Leone will wait for the results of a recently-launched offshore 3D seismic survey, its first in over a decade, ahead of potentially opening its next oil and gas licensing round later this year, a senior government official said on Thursday.
In partnership with the government's petroleum directorate, consultancy GeoPartners started the six-week seismic survey last month as part of efforts to de-risk exploration in Sierra Leone's offshore basin.
"The reprocessing of that data is happening now with our multi-client partners, TGS, and we are hoping to get something to push to the market in October," Foday Mansaray, director-general at the Sierra Leone Petroleum Directorate said of a potential licensing launch date.
He said the West African country, where the then Anadarko Petroleum and Russia's Lukoil previously discovered oil but not in commercial quantities, could potentially offer up to 60 offshore blocks in its sixth oil and gas auction round. The previous round concluded in 2023.
However, the new blocks are unlikely to include ultra-deep areas that are ordinarily open for direct negotiations, he said.
