Newswire — Petrosen, Senegal’s state-owned oil company, plans to conduct its own $100-million exploration campaign this year to discover crude in onshore fields.
The West African nation joined the ranks of significant oil and gas producers in recent years with the start of output at the bp Plc-led Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field and Woodside Energy Group Ltd.’s Sangomar project.
Now, Petrosen is planning to strike out and make the next discovery itself, Chief Executive Officer Alioune Gueye told Bloomberg.
“Since we have discoveries offshore, it begs to reason that we also have the same potential that we have onshore,” he said. “We are investing at least $100 million dollars to jump start that exploration.”
National oil companies throughout Africa, including Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Angola, have taken steps to raise capacity, enabling them to take over as explorers and operators of their natural resources, though developing the skills and financial capacity to compete in the sector remains an ongoing challenge.
bp loaded its first liquefied natural gas cargo from the floating GTA project in 2025 and Woodside began pumping oil the previous year. Both developments experienced delays before reaching production.
Senegal hasn’t had onshore exploration in decades, according to Gueye. “Our hope is by the end of the year to have some major find in our onshore basin.”
*Paul Burkhardt and Katarina Höije – Bloomberg
