Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. The Director General of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray has disclosed that Sierra Leone’s oil exploration efforts are gaining renewed momentum after years of groundwork.
“Since around 2012, we’ve had drilling activity in the country, and over the past few years, our focus has been on offshore exploration that’s in the ocean,” Mansaray told Truth Media. “We are prospecting in ultra-deep waters, over 2,000 meters deep. Drilling a single well takes more than 30 days and costs around 30 million US dollars.”
He explained that the Directorate is working to attract companies capable of conducting advanced geological and technical studies of the sub-surface before drilling begins.
“At the moment, we have one company called FA Oil, which about two months ago acquired 3D seismic data a high-resolution image of the sub-surface. We’re hoping to drill by 2026,” Mansaray revealed.
He further noted that Sierra Leone recently attracted one of the world’s major oil companies, ENI, describing it as “a significant milestone for the Petroleum Directorate and a reflection of the President’s leadership in positioning the country as a serious player in offshore exploration.”
According to him, the next step is for ENI to conduct detailed geological studies before moving into the drilling phase.
Reports indicate that Sierra Leone is poised to become a key player in the global oil and gas market, with an estimated 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent offshore, valued at approximately $2.31 trillion.
About 3 billion barrels of this are located in the Vega prospect, a discovery made by U.S. company Anadarko over a decade ago. However, the site has not been developed, as early analysis suggested it was not commercially viable. Other discoveries made by Anadarko and Russia’s Lukoil also remain undeveloped.
The country’s efforts to grow its oil and gas industry were interrupted in 2014 by the Ebola outbreak, which affected investment across several sectors. Interest in fossil fuel exploration declined globally over the years as energy companies faced pressure to focus more on renewables. More recently, however, exploration activity has started to increase again.
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