Liberia switches to direct negotiations for offshore blocks

June 14, 2021
The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority, in collaboration with the National Oil Company of Liberia is offering 33 offshore blocks for direct negotiations.

Offshore staff

MONROVIA, Liberia – The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), in collaboration with the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) is offering 33 offshore blocks for direct negotiations.

Blocks LB-1 to LB-33 cover the offshore Harper and Liberia basins.

The direct negotiation process runs to May 31, 2022. Exploration companies can express interest in any of the concessions: applications will be handled on a first-in exclusive basis.

The five-phase process includes pre-qualification, as outlined in the information package on the LPRA website (www.lpra.gov.lr). LPRA will notify applicants as they successfully complete each phase and the approvals needed to move to the next phase, culminating in negotiations for a Petroleum Sharing Agreement.

Although Liberia’s 2020 bid round yielded positive responses, according to the government, the industry was having to deal with a combination of negative developments.

This led the government to indefinitely suspend the 2020 round and the switch to direct negotiations.

Applicants can draw on a range of multi-client data across the acreage including 50,487 km (31,371 mi) of 2D and 31,350 sq km (12,104 sq mi) of 3D seismic, gravity and magnetic data, and well data.

In addition, syn-rift and post-rift traps (stratigraphic and structural) have been identified over much of the area that could offer multi-level prospectivity, with direct analogues to producing fields in nearby basins.

Modeling suggests that the source rock maturity and expulsion post-dates the main tectonism in the basin, with regional seal presence evident as in other West African Transform Margin analogues.

Potential fields could hold more than 1 Bbbl of oil in place.

06/14/2021

Courtesy VAALCO's "36TH ANNUAL ROTH CONFERENCE" presentation, March 2024
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