Senegal Opens the Door: 109 Blocks, One Ambition

Senegal is preparing one of the most ambitious licensing rounds in its history. Energy Minister Dr. El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf has announced that the government will put 109 of the country’s 113 oil and gas blocks up for grabs at an investor roadshow, targeting both local and international capital. Only four of Senegal’s 113 blocks are currently under contract, meaning the remaining 109 will be put on the market, Diouf said in a late Wednesday television interview.

A Country Riding Its First Wave of Production

The timing is significant. Senegal has spent the last two years transitioning from a frontier exploration story into an active hydrocarbon producer. Offshore, the Sangomar field operated by Woodside Energy has been pumping crude since 2024, while the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project, a cross-border venture with Mauritania led by Kosmos Energy and BP, has already begun exporting LNG. That combination of proven reserves and operating infrastructure gives Dakar a credibility boost heading into this new licensing push that a purely exploratory frontier wouldn’t have.

Institutionally, the government has also reorganised to give hydrocarbons more dedicated attention. Diouf’s portfolio was split off into a standalone Ministry of Energy and Petroleum in June 2026, separate from mines, signaling that Dakar wants a sharper policy focus as it scales up licensing activity.

Local Leaders, Not Just Foreign Majors

What distinguishes this round from a conventional bid round is its stated objective. Diouf said the president’s plan is to create local leaders in the energy, oil and gas sectors, framing the roadshow not purely as a foreign-investment drive but as a deliberate attempt to grow indigenous Senegalese operators and investors alongside international players. This fits a broader pattern already written into Senegalese law: the 2019 Petroleum Code guarantees the national oil company Petrosen a minimum 10% stake in exploration-phase projects, rising to as much as 30% once fields move into development, and mandates local sourcing of labour and materials plus a training fund for Senegalese workers. A local content law has also been passed by parliament, though its implementing decrees are still pending. 

For investors, that local content architecture matters as much as the geology. Bidders should expect the roadshow to emphasise partnership structures, joint ventures with domestic firms, and capacity-building commitments as much as it does subsurface prospectivity.

Scale of the Opportunity

Even accounting for blocks of varying quality, 109 blocks is a substantial expansion from what Senegal has previously offered. As recently as last year, the country was marketing a dozen offshore blocks and six onshore ones alongside plans for a second refinery. This round appears to dwarf that, suggesting Dakar is opening up acreage across both proven basins near existing Sangomar and GTA infrastructure and more speculative deepwater and onshore zones.

The move also comes against a backdrop of strong regional momentum. Senegal is positioning itself at the center of the MSGBC basin (Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry) narrative, with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye set to headline the MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power conference in Dakar this December, and Diouf slated to represent Senegal at African Energy Week in Cape Town in October. Both events are likely venues where further details of the roadshow, timing, block maps, fiscal terms, will be unveiled to a wider investor audience.

What to Watch

For companies weighing participation, several questions remain open: which blocks are offshore versus onshore, what fiscal and contractual terms will apply relative to the 2019 Petroleum Code, whether the local content decrees will be finalised before bidding closes, and how aggressively Petrosen will exercise its carried-interest rights. The roadshow’s success will likely hinge on how well Dakar balances its dual goals, attracting the technical and financial firepower of international majors while genuinely building a domestic operator class, as Diouf has framed it.

If Senegal executes this well, it could cement its position as one of West Africa’s fastest-emerging hydrocarbon economies, moving beyond single-flagship projects like Sangomar and GTA toward a broadly distributed, multi-block industry.

Written by:

*Chloe Maluleke 

Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group

Russia & Middle East Specialist

**The Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.

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