In a concerted push to rejuvenate exploration and drive new discoveries, both mature and emerging hydrocarbon markets across Africa are intensifying exploration efforts through planned and ongoing licensing rounds in 2024. These bid rounds are poised to propel the continent’s exploration and production sectors, positioning Africa as a global exploration hub and ushering in a new era of industry growth and innovation.
Libya:
As part of its ambitious plans to elevate oil production to two million barrels per day within the next three to five years, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced an oil and gas licensing round for 2024. The round will include services and production sharing contracts, fostering joint ventures between local private upstream firms and the state-owned company. Focused on the Sirte, Murzuq, and Ghadames basins, this round presents a vital opportunity for Libya to attract new investments and revitalize its oil and gas industry. The NOC has established a strategic planning office to enhance investor confidence and stabilize production.
Tanzania:
Proposing to auction up to 26 oil and gas blocks by June 2024, Tanzania aims to award licenses to winners by December of the same year. This marks Tanzania’s fifth bid round, designed to invigorate its underdeveloped exploration and production sector. The demarcated blocks, located in the Rufiji, Ruvuma, Mandawa, and Mafia Deep basins, include both offshore and onshore areas. Currently in talks with a multi-client data contractor, the Tanzanian government plans to compile extensive 2D and 3D seismic data within these basins.
Mauritania:
Scheduled for 2024, Mauritania’s licensing round for 15 offshore blocks is a significant milestone in its energy sector, following exploration activities led by companies like bp, Kosmos Energy, TotalEnergies, and Shell. The coastal basin features extensive 2D and 3D seismic data coverage, with significant discoveries like the Chinguetti oilfield in 2001 and the 2015 GTA gas discovery in Block C8, unveiling deeper Cretaceous petroleum systems.
Egypt:
In September, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) launched a licensing round with 23 on- and offshore blocks for oil and gas exploration in the Western Desert, Eastern Desert, Gulf of Suez, and Red Sea. The licensing round, closing on February 15, 2024, offers exploration opportunities in various regions, with tenders awarded having a maximum exploration period of seven years.
Angola:
Angola’s National Agency of Oil, Gas, and Biofuels (ANPG) initiated a public tender in September to award 12 onshore blocks in the Kwanza and Congo basins. The tender, aimed at mitigating production decline and accelerating exploration, is expected to run for six months, with winners to be announced in March 2024. The acreages include blocks in the Congo Basin (CON 2, CON 3, CON 7, and CON 8) and the Kwanza Basin (KON 1, KON 3, KON 7, KON 10, KON 13, KON 14, KON 15, and KON 19).
South Africa:
The South African government plans to offer at least 10 new onshore blocks for shale gas developments in the Karoo Region in 2024 or 2025. This marks the country’s first competitive auction for oil and gas resources, aiming to reduce imports and address energy grid challenges. The Karoo basin is estimated to hold up to 209 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas, and the licensing round will cover 90,000 km2 of acreage, previously held by Shell.
