Liberia To Launch Offshore Oil Licensing Round In Q4 2026

Liberia will launch a new offshore oil licensing round in the fourth quarter of 2026, seeking exploration investment as the West African country promotes its deepwater acreage and expands the technical data available to potential investors.

The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) announced the plan during Liberia Investor Day in Houston, where it presented prospective acreage, licensing terms and geological data ahead of the next exploration cycle.

LPRA Director General Marilyn Logan said the direct-negotiation process is designed to accommodate companies at different stages of technical and commercial readiness. Companies already familiar with Liberia’s petroleum sector will be able to move more quickly, while new entrants will have time to review geological data and conduct technical assessments.

“Frontier exploration requires agreements that can work over time,” Logan said.

Liberia’s licensing framework is based on the 2014 Petroleum Exploration and Production Act and amendments adopted in 2019. Petroleum agreements require joint execution with the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, providing a role for fiscal oversight alongside the sector regulator.

The planned licensing round follows Liberia’s award and ratification of eight deepwater production-sharing contracts in 2025. The agreements generated more than US$27 million in signature bonuses and US$14.6 million in surface rentals, according to the LPRA.

Liberia is also seeking to reduce geological uncertainty for prospective investors through additional seismic and subsurface data.

At the Houston investor event, TGS presented plans for data coverage of up to 44,800 square kilometres across the Liberia and Harper basins, covering deep- and ultra-deepwater areas. The company’s portfolio already includes more than 50,000 line-kilometres of 2D seismic data and 31,000 square kilometres of 3D data.

TGS Business Development Manager Johnny Chigbo said access to data would be central to investors assessing Liberia’s offshore potential, with the planned programme incorporating wide-tow acquisition, long offsets and technologies aimed at imaging frontier geological structures.

TGS Geoscience Director Henri Houllevigue said Liberia’s petroleum system had been demonstrated by the Narina oil discoveries in Upper and Lower Cretaceous plays. He pointed to Early Cretaceous syn-rift structures and Late Cretaceous basin-floor fans as among the geological features creating exploration targets.

The investor event also examined opportunities in shallower offshore areas. Core Laboratories Vice President Joe Ramoin said the available data could help reduce exploration uncertainty, while KC Geoscience Consulting Geoscience Advisor Karen Carlson pointed to potentially overlooked exploration plays in shallow-water areas that have seen limited activity for more than four decades.

Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Special Envoy for US Trade and Investments Isaac E. Taggart Jr. said the country was seeking investors and strategic partners capable of bringing capital and technology to its petroleum sector.

The technical and commercial information presented in Houston is intended to support companies evaluating acreage ahead of the fourth-quarter licensing round.

Source: FSX Business News