Liberia: Exxon Explores Liberia’s Oil Blocks Again

ExxonMobil, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, has once again expressed interest in exploring the potential of at least four offshore oil blocks in Liberia.

Exxon left Liberia in 2017 after failing to discover any oil in Mesurado well-1 after extensive drilling.   “We are naturally disappointed by the lack of hydrocarbons in the targeted reservoir sands in the Mesurado-1 well,” said Arthur Millholland, a partner at Exxon. 

But six years later, Exxon rekindled its interest in Liberia -- this time around, for four newly offshore blocks.  According to the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority, it has received a pre-qualification application from Exxon for blocks 15,16, 22, and 24, which are located south of the Liberian coast stretching from Monrovia to Buchanan.

Applying for pre-qualification allows Exxon to negotiate a production-sharing contract for the blocks,  the petroleum regulatory body said.

“We filed a pre-qualification application with the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority for offshore blocks. As a matter of practice, we don’t comment on commercial strategy,” said an Exxon official to the website Energyvoice.

On offer

Liberia opened 33 offshore blocks in the Harper and Liberia basins for direct negotiations in 2021, the Energy Voice said. 

It added that the country opted for direct negotiations – over a bid round – because of investor appetite for frontier basins, it said.

The country did launch a bid round, offering nine blocks in the Harper Basin, in 2020, however, investor interest was poor, in part at least because of COVID-19. In 2021, the regulatory body said it would shift to direct negotiations, with an initial deadline of May 2022. By December 2022, the regulator opted to drop its deadline.