Several international energy companies are expected to join the MSGBC region’s upstream market in the coming months, as operators target exploration opportunities in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry. Speaking at the MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2025 conference this week, Ben Sayers, Partner & Energy Specialist, GeoPartners, explained that the south of the MSGBC region has not yet heralded a major discovery, but expected forays by international companies could potentially turn this trend around.

“We are seeing a very different position in the north of MSGBC and the south. In the north, we have production onstream in Senegal and Mauritania. In the south, countries still need to drill to find that oil. We have seen Chevron joining Guinea-Bissau which is fantastic for the south part of the basin. We could see similar things in The Gambia, with two to three big companies expected to join. Companies are also linking up to work with Guinea-Conakry,” Sayers said.

These developments align with a broader trend by regional nations to incentivize upstream investment. In addition to opportunities in the south of the MSGBC basin, Paul Freeman, Global Exploration Advisor, SLB, highlighted opportunities in deeper acreage across the region. He explained that “We know the geology is good and there are the right kind of play types. Once you go below 1,000 m, there is very little exploration. But recent discoveries in Namibia show that certain play types and source rocks work better the deeper you go. There is a vast area in the MSGBC basin in the ultra-deepwater that still has potential to be unlocked.”

Against a backdrop of record-breaking production and major investments, the MSGBC region is positioning itself as the next major exploration hub. From improved fiscal terms to bold exploration campaigns and new block opportunities, regional nations are looking to attract fresh capital in upstream projects.

“I used to say that the MSGBC is a world-class petroleum system; but I was wrong, it is a super world-class petroleum basin. We now have solid drilling evidence proving that we have multiple source rocks. We have Permian source rocks, source rocks in the Jurassic and cretaceous. Seismic does not find oil and gas. While seismic is a requirement, drilling finds oil and gas,” stated Rogers Beall, Executive Chairman, Africa Fortesa Corporation.

Senegal is currently seeking partners to develop its Yakaar-Teranga gas project while Mauritania is looking to advance its BirAllah development. To attract partners in these projects - as well as other exploration initiatives - Alioune Guèye, CEO, Petrosen Holding, underscores the role of national oil companies (NOC).

He explained that “the basin is attractive enough in terms of geology. Now the question is, why haven’t we attracted more players into the basin? I believe that there are steps in attracting big players. One of the first steps is for NOCs to do some volarization and preliminary work. Companies like Petrosen need to step up their game and do that work to de-risk [the basin] and ensure that we can attract those players to invest.”  

Mauritania is strengthening its regulation under efforts to attract partners to projects such as BirAllah. Chemsdine Sow Deina, Director General of Petroleum and Low Carbon Hydrogen, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Mauritania, explained that “We have recently established some improvements to the regulations, including terms associated with cost recovery. We have a better investment code and a new local content code. The legal framework is based on best practices worldwide. The win-win partnership is our strategy.”