Senegal Plans to Market 109 Oil and Gas Blocks to Investors

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 9, Senegal's Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf stated that the government plans to market 109 oil and gas blocks to domestic and international investors. Senegal currently has a total of 113 oil and gas blocks, of which 4 already have contractual arrangements, and the remaining 109 will be brought to market. The government plans to introduce these blocks to potential investors through subsequent roadshows, but has not yet announced the roadshow schedule, the specific list of blocks, the area of individual blocks, or the application deadline.

The Prime Minister's policy agenda published by the Senegalese government on September 8 also confirmed that the country's sedimentary basins are currently divided into 113 oil and gas blocks, and listed them as upstream resource areas still awaiting further exploration. The government proposed bringing in investors with technical and financing capabilities to bear exploration risks, while expanding the participation of local Senegalese enterprises in the oil and gas industry.

The marketing of these 109 blocks does not mean that the blocks have already completed bidding or been awarded. Under Senegal's current 2019 Petroleum Code, new oil and gas block authorizations are subject to the oil and gas exploration license and production sharing contract regime. Production sharing contracts are signed jointly by the minister responsible for oil and gas affairs, the national oil company PETROSEN, and the exploration license applicant, and the contract must subsequently be approved by government decree and published in the official gazette. The technical and financial bids for oil and gas contracts are evaluated by a dedicated petroleum contract review and negotiation committee.

The current regime also provides for PETROSEN's participation in oil and gas projects. Under the 2019 petroleum regime, the state holds at least a 10% participating interest during the exploration and development phases, with the exploration-phase costs for this share borne by the other co-holders; upon entering the development and production phases, the state may also choose to further increase its participating interest by up to 20%. The production sharing mechanism sets different cost recovery ceilings for onshore, shallow water, deep water, and ultra-deep water blocks.

In July, Senegal's energy authorities organized a dedicated domestic oil and gas investment conference, with participants including domestic enterprises, financial institutions, technical and financing cooperation agencies, and oil and gas companies. At that time, the government explicitly proposed expanding the entry of domestic private capital into upstream oil and gas activities and incorporating local investment into the oil and gas industry policy. Senegal's current local content regime for oil and gas is implemented under the 2019 Local Content Law for the Oil and Gas Industry and its supporting regulations, and applies to oil and gas activities conducted within Senegal.

Oil and gas investment materials published by Senegal's investment promotion agency show that the country's existing upstream resources and projects are mainly concentrated in offshore areas such as Saint-Louis Offshore Profond, Cayar Offshore Profond, Rufisque Offshore Profond, and Sangomar, while oil and gas processing and transportation infrastructure, natural gas development, and the petrochemical industry are listed as subsequent investment directions. The government's energy authorities are also continuing to carry out resource marketing for onshore and offshore sedimentary basins.