Page 21: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2026)

20 22

MARKETS EXPLORATION n total and including agreements signed by Petrobras and Woodside Energy, over 360,000 km2, an area ~1.6 times the size of the Permian Basin, is covered

I by these various agreements.

Shell has been the most active, securing early-stage

OIL MAJORS RELOAD agreements in Angola, Ghana and Sierra Leone, while

Equinor, Sonangol, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Petrobras and

Woodside have also agreed terms across Angolan acreage.

Further north, bp and ExxonMobil are advancing towards formal PSCs in Gabon; Eni, Chevron and Galp have en-

EXPLORATION HOPPERS tered Equatorial Guinea; and 1Petrobras held exclusive ne- gotiating rights over a large swathe of Côte d'Ivoire blocks.

In non-producing countries, Eni has been particularly ac- tive having signed reconnaissance agreements in Sierra Le- one, Liberia and Guinea (it also signed a formal PSC for a block in Gambia in early June).

ACROSS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Low-Cost Access to High-Risk Acreage

There are clear benefts for both host countries and op- erators to sign MoUs/AiPs/RLs.

Primarily, they provide a cost-effective solution to help de-risking exploration acreage. Typically, there will be low commitments for the operators, and they can undertake desk-based studies. The focus will be on analysing exist- ing geological and geophysical data, including 2D and 3D seismic, well reports, and other relevant technical informa- tion. In so doing, acreage is de-risked, geological under- standing is improved, and the journey towards bankable projects begins. Some RLs may involve work commit- ments such as new data acquisition, but even here, these

MAY/JUNE 2026 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 21