The government of the Gambia and BP Plc, a leading global energy company headquartered in London, have signed a petroleum exploration contract to explore oil and gas potentials in block A1 in off-shore Gambia.
The deal was unveiled bon Tuesday by Dr. Jonathan Evans, following a closed-door meeting with the Gambian leader, Adama Barrow, at the State House in Banjul. “BP is very excited to make its re-entry into The Gambia,” Dr. Evans, V.P. Africa New Ventures, said.
“We were here 30 years ago and now we are back. This is about looking for oil and gas in the deep water where BP would be able to connect the government of the Gambia with our partners at Gambia National petroleum Company (GNPC) to explore for oil and if it is successful to develop that oil in the future. The BP top executive said the project would hit the ground running immediately.
He said work would start with a thorough environmental impact assessment, followed by a two-year period of drilling, exploration, and development of the first well.
However, Dr. Evans was quick to call for cautious and optimism, emphasizing that the explorative stage is just the beginning and the results could go both ways despite the attractiveness of the zone.
He added that it could actually take close to a decade before the country earns any revenue from the venture. “It is very important for the people to understand that the money wouldn’t start flowing tomorrow. It is probably in ten years’ time before the revenues would start flowing. The Gambian Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Fafa Sanyang, expressed satisfaction with the entire process leading to the signing ceremony. He thanked the national negotiating team as well as their international partners for overseeing a very transparent and successful bidding process.
He said: “we are able to achieve our aim; a reputable company – a company that has the capacity, technically and financially to be able to deliver. We are able to get that; we are able to sign a very good license, which is a win-win situation. “And we got the support, internally, from a multisectoral team who is trained to negotiate and they did a very good negotiation.
Alexander Sarac, the external legal adviser of the Gambian government, lauded the partnership as a great success for the country. “Today is the end of a process where this government has shown that it is capable of attracting international investment of the highest other,” he said, adding that it demonstrates that the country can run a transparent process to attract international investment.
