Senegal establishes a commission to examine contracts related to oil and gas

Senegal’s prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, announced on national television on Monday that his country has established a panel of legal, tax, and energy industry specialists to examine its contracts for oil and gas and attempt to rebalance them in the country’s best interests.

After crushing the candidate of the ruling coalition in a landslide in March, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye ordered an audit of the mining, oil, and gas industries and promised to renegotiate the terms of contracts with foreign players in the nation if necessary.

Officials have not released information on the audit or any updates regarding plans for renegotiation.

Sonko stated that they will “come back to these various agreements to re-examine them and work to rebalance them, obviously in the national interest,” as per their commitment to the Senegalese people.

He assured that the commission will have the funding to examine the contracts and, if needed, bring in specialists from elsewhere. He did not specify the duration of the review.

The action was taken not long after Senegal started producing oil. Woodside Energy (WDS.AX), an Australian company, opened a new tab after announcing in June that it had produced its first oil from its Sangomar oil and gas field.

By year’s end, gas production is also anticipated to start at BP’s (BP.L) Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, opens new tab.