For the second time since its commencement, the government of Sierra Leone has extended its 5th Offshore Licensing Rounds. The postponement is by seven months.
The Licensing Round was officially launched on May 18th 2022 during the Africa Energy Summit held at Mayfair Hotel in London; with the West African nation offering in total 63,643 km2 offshore acreage across 56 granular blocks of some 1,360 km2.
The closing date for the Licensing Round was initially scheduled for September 30th 2022, but it was extended to Friday January 27th 2023. For the second time the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone has shelved the deadline. It announced on 19th January, the postponement of the exercise to the 28th of September 2023.
‘This extension will give IOCs and NOCs, many of whom have made sizeable purchases, time to continue their technical evaluation of the fantastic acreage,” the Directorate affirmed in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Leonean authorities remain bullish about the huge prospect of an imminent commercial oil find along its coasts in the incoming months.
“With only 8 wells drilled, 4 of which have made oil, gas and condensate discoveries, Sierra Leone offers some of the most exciting opportunities in Africa sitting on the conjugate margin with Guyana and Surniname and sharing the same source rock history, 2023 will be a big year for the country and its partners.
“The bid round includes a total acreage of 63, 6433 km2 (56 Granular Offshore Blocks) and the new timeline will allow interested parties the opportunity to carefully review the existing 29,000 km2 2D and 11,000 km2 3D multi-client data, either in Freetown or London, in order to reduce uncertainty and allow them to submit a bid for acreage offshore Sierra Leone,” the Directorate said.
Application and license award can be completed within 90 working days, including prequalification, as outlined in the information package contained on the PDSL website. In line with the petroleum law and its amendment, only pre-qualified companies will be invited to negotiate a Petroleum Sharing Agreement (PSA) contract.