- Plans are underway to drill offshore wells in Liberia.
- Liberia has 33 offshore blocks and has 34,000km and 24,000sq. Km of 2D and 3D seismic data, respectively.
The CEO and President of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), Saifuah Mai Gray, notes that plans are underway to drill offshore wells in Liberia. Gray stated that NOCAL is nearing the end of negotiations on a proposal from a UK-based institution to drill several scientific wells offshore West Africa, including Liberia, as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) to improve the country’s oil and gas discovery. She stated that the proposal is from Dr Uisdean Nicholson of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Gray revealed during a recent cabinet retreat in Ganta, Nimba County.
NOCAL, in collaboration with the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), conducted the 2020 Harper Basin License Round, which has now translated into a direct negotiation process. Liberia has 33 offshore blocks, and the country’s seismic data includes 2D seismic (34,000 kilometres) and 3D seismic (24,000 square kilometres).
Gray noted that although the world is preparing for an energy transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, Africa’s position on the issue is the concept of mixed energy as the way forward.