Keypoints:
- Eni to assess five offshore blocks
- Technical studies funded by Eni
- PETROSEN takes central role
SENEGAL has signed an agreement with Italian energy major Eni to assess five offshore oil and gas blocks, advancing Dakar’s effort to revive exploration across its largely underexplored sedimentary basin.
The memorandum of understanding covers preliminary geological and geophysical studies rather than an award of exploration or production rights. Eni will finance the technical programme, while national oil company PETROSEN will play a central role as Senegal seeks to build a new pipeline of upstream opportunities.
Five offshore blocks under review
The agreement covers blocks SN01M, SN02M, SN03M, SN07M and SN40M, according to Senegal’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.
Eni will conduct technical studies and analyses designed to deepen geological and geophysical understanding of the five offshore areas.
The work should give Senegal a stronger technical basis for deciding whether any of the acreage merits more advanced exploration.
The MoU does not itself grant Eni an exploration licence or production rights, an important distinction as Dakar seeks to attract international expertise without pre-empting future decisions over petroleum acreage.
PETROSEN moves centre stage
PETROSEN’s involvement places the state company directly inside the evaluation process as Senegal pushes for greater national participation in its natural-resource industries.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s administration has previously moved to review oil and gas agreements as part of a wider effort to secure greater value for the country from extractive projects.
The five-block arrangement gives Dakar access to Eni’s technical capabilities while keeping PETROSEN involved in assessing the potential of acreage that could later be marketed or negotiated under formal petroleum agreements.
Dakar prepares wider acreage push
The Eni deal comes as Senegal prepares a far broader campaign to attract investment into its petroleum basin.
Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo said in his September 8 policy statement that Senegal’s sedimentary basin comprises 113 petroleum blocks and remains largely underexplored.
Energy and Petroleum Minister El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf said last week that four blocks are currently covered by contracts and that the government plans to offer the remaining 109 to local and foreign investors, according to Reuters.
The scale of the planned offering suggests exploration is moving back up Senegal’s energy agenda after the country entered the oil-producing ranks with first production from the Sangomar field in 2024.
Senegal is also pursuing major offshore gas developments. PETROSEN has taken a larger role in the $7.5bn Yakaar-Teranga project, another sign of Dakar’s push to strengthen national participation in strategic energy assets.
Exploration returns to the agenda
For Senegal, the next challenge is identifying prospects capable of extending the country’s upstream story beyond its first generation of major discoveries.
The Eni studies provide an early indication of how that strategy may work: international companies bring technical expertise and capital to evaluate acreage, while PETROSEN remains closely involved in the process.
The approach is consistent with a broader effort to increase Senegalese influence over strategic resources, including recent government action affecting the country’s phosphate industry.
What happens next?
The immediate task is the technical evaluation of the five offshore blocks and the geological and geophysical information available for them.
If the results identify commercially attractive prospects, they could support further exploration discussions or eventual negotiations over petroleum rights.
None of those steps is guaranteed by the current MoU.
For Dakar, the agreement is therefore less an acreage award than a first-stage effort to improve knowledge of its offshore basin before more blocks are placed before investors.
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