Africa-Press – Gambia. The Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines has officially refuted recent allegations made by former President Yahya Jammeh, who accused Senegal of illegally siphoning oil from The Gambia. In a press release, the Ministry described the claims as “false, unfounded, and without technical or scientific basis.”
“This is not only misleading but not grounded in any technical or scientific facts,” the statement emphasized. “It is essential for the public to understand that “exploration” refers to the process of searching for oil, while “extraction” is the actual removal of oil from the ground. Extraction occurs only after exploration has confirmed the quality, quantity, and economic viability of the oil and gas resources.”
The Ministry further explained that despite The Gambia’s ongoing exploration activities over the years, no oil discoveries have been made to date. Therefore, the country has not progressed to the development or extraction stages.
“Thus, we are continuing our exploration efforts with the view to drilling more wells for potential discovery in the near future. It may interest the public to know that the Sangomar oilfield’s major breakthrough began with the successful drilling of the SNE-1 exploration well in November 2014. This discovery was subsequently followed by a series of appraisal wells, including SNE-2, SNE-3, SNE-4, and BEL-1, which were drilled between 2015 and 2016 to assess the field’s potential. This timeline means that the Senegalese discovery happened before the government of President Barrow came into power,” The Statement Said.
Providing further context, the Ministry revealed that since the 1960s, only five exploration wells have been drilled in The Gambia—two onshore and three offshore. Two of these offshore wells were recently drilled by FAR Ltd. in 2019 and 2021. In contrast, Senegal has conducted 49 offshore drillings in the Sangomar area alone, a significantly larger exploration effort.
The Ministry also acknowledged that oil and gas deposits can sometimes cross international boundaries, as seen in the case of Mauritania and Senegal. In such instances, international protocols require negotiations for joint development and equitable resource sharing, commonly known as “unitization.”
“It is important to mention that the last well drilled by FAR (in 2021) was about 500 meters away from the border with Senegal. This was a deliberate attempt to see if we have oil around the areas where Senegal discovered oil. Unfortunately, from that well, there was no discovery warranting a conversation on joint resource development or sharing at the time,” the statement said.
The Ministry confirmed that no further exploration wells have been drilled since then. Consequently, there is currently no basis for any negotiations between The Gambia and Senegal regarding shared oil resources. “No exploration well has been drilled since then. Consequently, The Gambia and Senegal cannot initiate such negotiations because The Gambia has not yet made any discoveries near the border that would warrant such negotiations.Meanwhile, our seismic data acquisition and interpretation continue to gather momentum. It is crucial to emphasize that seismic data and well data are confidential and extremely valuable to be shared publicly,” the Ministry added.
The government also reaffirmed its commitment to encouraging investment in The Gambia’s oil sector, noting that several international oil companies have already expressed interest in the country’s available exploration blocks.
“We continue to encourage investment in The Gambia’s oil blocks, which has culminated in receiving expressions of interest from various oil companies for our acreages,” the statement said.
In conclusion, the Ministry urged the public to dismiss what it termed as “baseless” allegations and inflammatory rhetoric, and instead called for a fact-based and informed national discourse on the management and potential of The Gambia’s natural resources.
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