E&P

The Senegalese government has opened 104 oil and gas blocks to international investors, seeking new upstream exploration and production contracts to accelerate the development of its natural resources.

West Africa's hydrocarbon landscape is shifting rapidly towards large-scale acreage commercialisation, and Senegal is now positioning itself at the very forefront of this regional drive.

The Senegalese government has opened 104 oil and gas blocks to international investors, seeking new upstream exploration and production contracts to accelerate the development of its natural resources.

Announced by Energy and Petroleum Minister El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town, the offering signals an aggressive push to draw foreign direct investment into the nation's energy sector while expanding domestic industrial capacity.

A Reorganised Acreage Landscape

The newly available assets stem from a major restructuring carried out earlier this year. In March 2026, Senegal reorganised its acreage into 113 distinct blocks, comprising 65 onshore and 48 offshore tracts. While Oil & Gas Middle East reported in September that 109 blocks were being marketed, the portfolio status has since crystallised:

• 104 blocks are actively open and available to international investors.
• 4 blocks are already held under existing petroleum contracts.
• 5 offshore blocks are currently assigned to Italian energy major Eni for technical evaluations.

Eni agreed to fund these technical assessments under a memorandum signed on the sidelines of Gastech. Crucially, the agreement functions strictly as a study framework rather than an upstream petroleum contract, conferring no automatic operational rights.

Addressing delegates in Cape Town, Diouf emphasised regulatory certainty, stating that the objective is to “show investors that Senegal remains the country it has always been: open, hospitable and respectful of international procedures.”

Fast-Tracking Yakaar-Teranga and Domestic Gas

Beyond newly delineated licensing blocks, Senegal is prioritising major offshore gas assets to anchor national electrification and industrialisation. The state is actively searching for commercial partners to advance the world-scale Yakaar-Teranga gas project alongside national oil company Petrosen.

Petrosen assumed complete operational control of the asset after Kosmos Energy withdrew in April. According to reporting by Ecofin Agency, the exit involved no financial compensation, leaving Petrosen’s leadership targeting initial commercial production between late 2028 and early 2029—a timetable viewed by several market analysts as optimistic.

The government views gas monetisation as an essential catalyst for broader economic transformation rather than a simple export play. As Diouf noted: “Our strategy is to build the value chain from the well to the factory, with gas at the heart of our industrial ambition.” Under this framework, Yakaar-Teranga will deliver feedstock for domestic power generation, industrial facilities such as fertiliser plants, and international liquefied natural gas markets.

Downstream Ambitions and Regional Integration

Senegal’s upstream momentum is matched by targeted downstream development intended to retain processing margins onshore. Diouf highlighted ongoing plans to construct a second domestic refinery dedicated to processing crude from the offshore Sangomar field, requiring an estimated capital investment of $2 billion to $3 billion (approximately AED 7.35 billion to AED 11.02 billion).

On 23 September in New York, the Société Africaine de Raffinage (SAR) signed a memorandum with Turkish contractor Yamata to develop the proposed four-million-tonne-per-annum refining facility. Similar to Eni’s offshore arrangement, reports have noted that this document remains a preliminary memorandum rather than a fully binding commercial contract.

Domestic integration and capacity building remain central conditions for incoming capital. Diouf explicitly urged new entrants to incorporate domestic suppliers and local labour into their operations from project inception. “Capital must earn a return. Senegal must gain a stronger economy. The partnership we seek must serve both purposes,” he affirmed.

Concurrently, Dakar is championing deeper regional collaboration across the MSGBC basin. Senegal intends to broaden the current five-nation alliance—comprising Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea—into a larger regional energy coalition, establishing West Africa as a unified, competitive energy frontier.

Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery has just announced a staggering US$4.73bn net profit for the first nine months of 2026.

The global petroleum refining landscape is undergoing a monumental shift, driven by geopolitical volatility and the emergence of massive new downstream infrastructure in developing markets.

At the centre of this transformation is Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has just announced a staggering US$4.73bn net profit for the first nine months of 2026. This dramatic financial turnaround arrives precisely as the organisation asks investors for US$1.6bn in what is slated to be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in African history.

Global Supply Disruptions and the Refining Catalyst

Historically, West Africa has relied heavily on imported refined fuels from Europe, the United States, and the Middle East to meet its domestic energy requirements. However, recent geopolitical tensions, most notably the Iran war, have severely disrupted Middle Eastern refining operations and petroleum product exports.

These supply chain bottlenecks have sent global product margins sharply higher throughout the year, with a particularly intense spike in the profitability of diesel and jet fuel. Rather than falling victim to these shortages, newly commissioned infrastructure in West Africa has capitalised on the supply vacuum. By ramping up output, facilities in the region have begun exporting refined products directly into these global shortages, including significant jet fuel shipments successfully routed to Western Europe.

A Historic Financial Turnaround

Just a year ago, the Lagos-based mega-refinery was still absorbing heavy commissioning costs, posting a US$117.2mn loss during the same nine-month period. Today, the operational reality paints a drastically different picture. By successfully processing greater volumes of crude oil and capturing elevated refining margins on the global market, the company has transformed its balance sheet at an unprecedented pace.

The facility's fiscal transformation is underscored by several key performance metrics:

• Revenue Growth: Total revenue more than doubled year-on-year, surging from US$9.19bn to an impressive US$22.48bn.

• EBITDA Expansion: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation skyrocketed to US$5.52bn, up from just US$627.6mn a year earlier.

• Cash Flow Generation: Operating cash flow reached US$3.68bn through September, compared with a mere US$364.7mn previously.

• Debt Reduction: The organisation finished the period with US$650.8mn in net cash, completely reversing the US$1.73bn in net debt it carried the previous year.

• Liquidity: Total cash holdings for the enterprise have now reached a robust US$6.69bn.

Africa’s Largest Initial Public Offering

These exceptional financial figures have landed right in the middle of the refinery’s highly anticipated IPO. The company is actively seeking to raise US$1.6bn in a public offering that places an overall valuation on the refinery of approximately US$47bn.

The market response has been exceptionally strong. Initially scheduled to close on the 13th of October, the subscription period has been officially extended through the 27th of October. This two-week extension was necessitated after heavy and enthusiastic investor demand effectively overwhelmed several Nigerian investment platforms when the offering first opened to the public.

Securing Regional Independence and Future Expansion

The capital generated from the IPO is already earmarked partly for the facility's next ambitious expansion phase. While the 700,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery was already running near 660,000 bpd earlier this year—up from its original 650,000 bpd design—leadership has set a far higher target. By 2029, the company intends to double its total refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd. Once completed, this expansion would firmly position the Lagos complex among the very largest single-train refineries in the world.

Beyond the raw financial success, the strategic impact on the regional economy cannot be overstated. The facility has successfully and substantially cut West Africa’s historical dependence on imported fuel. Today, Nigerian product exports are increasingly displacing the millions of barrels that previously arrived via long-haul shipping routes. From navigating early commissioning hurdles to boasting billions in cash reserves and a line of eager investors, the enterprise has rapidly rewritten the narrative of African downstream energy production.

Regional trade desks reported on Wednesday that sellers of sweet and heavy West African grades are finding it difficult to clear their export programmes.

Physical oil markets across the Atlantic basin are contending with mounting headwinds as cargoes of both Angolan and Nigerian crude struggle to find buyers, undermined by stubbornly high shipping costs and softening differentials.

Regional trade desks reported on Wednesday that sellers of sweet and heavy West African grades are finding it difficult to clear their export programmes. The paralysis highlights growing competition in international refining centres, where delivered costs dictate refiners' feedstock purchasing strategies.

Twin pressures on West African differentials

Market participants point to an accumulation of geopolitical and operational factors that have simultaneously reduced arbitrage profitability and weakened outright bids for Atlantic basin crude.

A market trader noted that the physical market was confronting a “combination of high freight costs, recovering Middle Eastern supply, and widening discounts,” which has left several Nigerian and Angolan cargoes struggling to clear within their typical trading cycles.

When maritime tanker rates surge, distant refiners in Europe and Asia demand steeper discounts on free-on-board (FOB) prices to offset the expense of transporting the barrels. Concurrently, the gradual return of regional competition from Middle Eastern producers has offered refiners closer, more economic options, compressing the natural premium historically held by Atlantic grades.

Angolan grades suffer steep discounts

The downward trajectory is particularly pronounced in heavy, sweet grades from Angola, which have experienced severe pricing declines over the course of a single trading week.

Offers for Angolan Dalia crude were heard at a discount of $20 to dated Brent on the Argus Open Market this week, according to another trader. This assessment represents a substantial deterioration compared to the discount of $9.95 to dated Brent recorded for the grade last week on the Platts platform.

Key observations shaping current West African trading include:

• Elevated vessel charter rates pricing long-haul barrels out of key export destinations.

• Recovering crude flows from Middle Eastern producers reducing reliance on Atlantic basin imports.

• Persistent overhang of unsold volumes across the prompt loading programmes.

• Angolan differentials going lower, which is directly weighing on the pricing of competing Nigerian grades.

Because Angolan and Nigerian streams often compete for similar processing units across Mediterranean and Northwest European refineries, the widening price discount on Angolan heavy barrels has exerted immediate downward pressure on lighter Nigerian export grades. Sellers of Nigerian crudes are being forced to adjust their physical differentials downward to remain viable against their regional neighbours.

Chevron’s Aseng gas milestone

Beyond the prompt crude market, the wider Gulf of Guinea upstream sector is monitoring significant long-term infrastructure progress in neighbouring waters.

US oil major Chevron has confirmed it remains on track to deliver first gas from its offshore Aseng gas project in Equatorial Guinea in 2028, a senior company executive said. The development represents a notable step forward in monetising offshore gas reserves across regional production hubs, even as short-term crude physical traders manage the volatility of global shipping bottlenecks and shifting refinery margins.

East African nation has established a clear timeline to transition into an active player in the global energy market. The commencement of commercial oil production is officially on track for June 2027.

Uganda is standing on the precipice of a historic economic transformation.

Nearly two decades after making its initial commercial hydrocarbon discoveries, the East African nation has established a clear timeline to transition into an active player in the global energy market. The commencement of commercial oil production is officially on track for June 2027. This milestone will be swiftly followed by inaugural exports facilitated by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), promising to fundamentally reshape the country’s trajectory.

The announcement was delivered by Kristina Kasebayo, Head of Compliance at the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), during a fireside chat at African Energy Week 2026 in Cape Town. By setting this firm schedule, the government has signalled its readiness to capitalise on resources carefully managed since their discovery in 2006. Rather than simply extracting raw material, the national strategy integrates export ambitions with substantial domestic processing capabilities, aiming to capture maximum value from its subterranean wealth.

"First oil will start before the end of our financial year – June 2027 – which will position us as an oil producing country," Kasebayo stated, confirming the eagerly awaited timeline.

Bridging the Vital Infrastructure Gap

For a landlocked nation, possessing subterranean wealth is only half the battle. The true complexity lies in establishing the logistical channels necessary to reach international buyers. Uganda has spent years meticulously designing the required export infrastructure, a monumental undertaking now nearing its conclusion.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline serves as the linchpin of this export strategy. According to UNOC, the pipeline is already 92% complete. Once operational, this engineering project will transport Ugandan crude to a dedicated port facility in neighbouring Tanzania, unlocking direct access to global shipping routes.

Developing the upstream resources had to be perfectly matched by rigorous regulatory frameworks and complex cross-border agreements.

"The challenge was never getting the oil out of the ground, but having the infrastructure and regulation in place," Kasebayo explained, highlighting that all requisite legal agreements have been successfully secured.

Prioritising Domestic Value and Energy Security

While international crude exports will generate significant revenue, Uganda remains equally committed to bolstering its national energy security. A cornerstone of the government’s master plan is the construction of a domestic oil refinery. This facility is designed to reduce the nation's reliance on imported petroleum products, ensuring a stable, localised fuel supply.

Key project milestones and timelines include:

• February 2027: The target date for reaching a final investment decision (FID) regarding the domestic refinery.

• June 2027: The scheduled commencement of commercial oil extraction from the upstream fields.

• 2030: The projected completion date for the refinery, enabling large-scale domestic processing.

By combining the capacity for raw exports with domestic refining, the government aims to insulate the local consumer market from global supply chain volatilities whilst creating new industrial opportunities.

"We intend to take FID for the domestic refinery in February 2027 and expect the refinery to be complete by 2030," Kasebayo noted, outlining a clear roadmap for the downstream sector.

Introducing ‘Pearl Sweet’ to the Global Market

As the physical infrastructure falls into place, Uganda is strategically branding its sovereign resource for the international market. The country’s crude will be officially marketed under the name 'Pearl Sweet', a culturally significant nod to its historic moniker as the Pearl of Africa.

This forward-thinking branding strategy is already yielding positive results. The unique characteristics of the crude grade have garnered favourable international recognition, ensuring a receptive market once the taps are opened. With EACOP nearing the finish line and upstream preparations entering final stages, Uganda is an emerging energy supplier ready to engage with global buyers.

The next few years will prove absolutely pivotal as the government and UNOC work collaboratively to finalise the remaining technical details. If the current momentum is maintained, Uganda will soon realise its ambition of achieving energy independence whilst cementing its status as a vital contributor to the African energy landscape.