Oil and Gas Sector

The petroleum history of Liberia started more than 70 years ago, when the first sets of seismic data were acquired. In the late 1960s, the Government of Liberia awarded licenses to Union Carbide Petroleum Corporation, Frontier International Petroleum, and Chevron Oil Company. By 1972, these companies had drilled four wells without making any commercial discoveries. Following a new exploration promotion campaign, Amoco Liberia Exploration Company was awarded license acreage, acquired additional seismic data, and drilled three wells between 1983 and 1989. The wells demonstrated the presence of hydrocarbons, but the discoveries were not considered commercially viable.

As it disrupted the broader society and economy, the civil war in Liberia significantly interrupted petroleum sector activity. In 2000, a new petroleum law was approved, and in April of that year, NOCAL was established with the objective of facilitating the development of the oil and gas industry.

Also in 2000, the company TGS NOPEC acquired new seismic data. Throughout the following decade, TGS NOPEC developed a large database of 2D seismic data, gravimetric/magnetic data, and 3D seismic data. Following a re-demarcation of offshore blocks and the development of a new model of production-sharing contracts (PSCs), eight contracts were signed in 2004/2005, followed by two additional contracts in 2009. The contracts have been subject to various amendments between 2007 and 2010.

In the following years, six deep-water wells were drilled, indicating an active petroleum system. Montserrado-1, drilled by Anardako in 2010, demonstrated a hydrocarbon-bearing section. Narina-1 and Bee Eater-1, drilled by African Petroleum in Block 9 in 2012 and 2013, encountered 32 m of net oil pay and a show of hydrocarbon (135m gross), respectively. In 2016, in Sierra Leone, close to the Liberian border, oil was encountered in the wells Venus-1, Mercury-1, and Jupiter-1. All these discoveries were made in stratigraphic plays of the Cretaceous age, demonstrating the viability of this play type as a main exploration target.

So far, none of these discoveries has been assessed to have resource potential large enough to justify commercial field development. As a result, the majority of previously signed production-sharing contracts have expired, and the acreage has been relinquished.

In 2012, the Government of Liberia started the petroleum sector reform process. The process led to the enactment of the New Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, 2014, which, among other things, established clear rules, a stable legal and fiscal framework, and good governance principles, including the establishment of the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority. In 2019, the New Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, 2014, was amended to, among other things, re-demarcate Liberia’s offshore basin. Currently, Liberia has 29 offshore blocks, all of which are not under contract.

The Liberia offshore acreage is demarcated into thirty-three (33) offshore blocks with sizes ranging from over 2,256 km² to 3,432 km² area. To date, seventeen (17) wildcat exploratory wells have been drilled in the area, along the shelf and deepwater domains. Some of the wildcat wells drilled had oil shows in shelfful reservoirs and some proved non-commercial oil discoveries in deep water. Post well analysis has proven the existence of a working petroleum system for the Cretaceous plays.

Main projects in the oil and gas upstream sector in Liberia

The Government of Liberia launched in February 2020 the fourth licensing bid round covering 33 offshore blocks within the offshore Liberia acreage, including Harper basin. With a total 2D seismic data of 24,773 kilometers, this bid offers a new investment opportunity to international oil companies that expressed their interest in the area that offers significant exploration potential in one of the few remaining unexplored deep-water basins in West Africa. Several sub-commercial discoveries have proven that the petroleum systems are working offshore Liberia.

Due to several significant factors including the recent investment climate, among which the latent impact of the energy transition and the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and following a 6-month extension of the bid round, the GoL has indefinitely suspended the 2020 bid round and opted for Direct Negotiations in order to simplify the process to international exploration and production companies and to make the investment opportunity in Liberia more attractive to external capital.[2]

The Direct Negotiation process was launched on 1st June 2021 and covers the same 33 offshore blocks. In April 2023, LPRA has announced that it has received pre-qualification application from Exxon Mobil for four offshore blocks in Liberia. Exxon Mobil expressed interest in Blocks 15, 16, 22 and 24 within the Liberia Basin and the company has now officially applied to be pre-qualified to negotiate for the Blocks. To date, there is no information on the negotiation or signature of a production sharing contract between the company and the LPRA for the Blocks.

Apart from the 4th round of direct negotiations, the NOCAL has also a Joint Industry Project with Core Lab, which provides a comprehensive and up-to-date geological evaluation of well data from the Equatorial Atlantic Transform Basins of Liberia. The fully integrated project database, incorporating stratigraphy, reservoir description and regional geology, will utilize rock material and well log data from 17 offshore exploration wells.

In August 2024, the LPRA launched the 2024 Direct Negotiations Licensing Round covering the remaining 29 offshore blocks pursuant to the expression of interest of Exxon Mobil referred to above. The blocks made available for direct negotiations are LB-1 to LB-14, LB-17 to LB-21, LB-23, and LB-25 to LB-33. These blocks located in both Liberia and Harper Basins include a mix of deep offshore and shallow water blocks. The Direct Negotiations Licensing Round brochures fixed 15 October 2024 as a due date for applicants to submit their applications for Operator pre-qualification, while the identification of blocks of interest shall be done by no later than 15 November 2024. The brochure did not preview a deadline for negotiations.[1]