The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) expects to offer nine blocks offshore West Africa in a licensing round planned for April 2020. Next steps for a licensing round were agreed to during a meeting held by Liberia's National Oil Co., LPRA, and TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co.
The blocks lie in Harper basin—one of the last unexplored and undrilled regions offshore West Africa—where TGS holds multi-client data to support the licensing round, including 5,272 km of 2D and 6,276 sq km of 3D seismic, gravity, and magnetic data.
Syn-rift structural traps can be identified over much of the area, which offer multi-level prospectivity, with direct analogues to producing fields in neighboring basins, TGS said. Modelling predicts the source rock maturity and expulsion post-dates the main tectonism in the basin, and seal presence is evident in West African Transform Margin analogues, the company continued. Also, Cretaceous slope and basin floor fan systems demonstrating high amplitude character have been identified, some of which cover over 300 sq km. TGS said volumetric assessment of these features suggests field sizes over 1 billion bbl of oil in place could be present.
A formal announcement on the licensing date is expected by President Dr. George Manneh Weah, based on the recommendation from the Authority (LPRA).