The Petroleum Directorate has declared that it received from Innoson Oil and Gas SL Ltd a Sierra Leonean registered company own by a Nigerian Billionaire, a preliminary report on the outcome of a recently concluded independent, third-party evaluation of its offshore concession in Sierra Leone as reported on its online platform precisely on 27^th 0f May, 2022. This evaluation revealed an SPE-PRMS P50 estimated unrisked, gross prospective, recoverable resources of 8.2 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and 234 million barrels (MMbbl) of gas and condensate respectively, thereby corroborating an earlier finding on the basis of remotely sensed data (ERS).

The evaluation outcome has reportedly put the company on the cusp of an estimated 8 TCF of Gas discovery in the Sierra Leone basin. The Directorate welcomes the report as well as the novel offshore technology and other innovative exploration solutions so far utilised-given that these will necessarily trigger game changing events at both national and international levels- and acknowledges the confidence level of the evaluation result-given the brand name of the independent consulting firm.

Whilst the evaluation outcome puts Innoson Oil and Gas SL Ltd. on the path of an estimated 8 TCF gas discovery in the Sierra Leone basin, there remains extensive activities to be realized in the exploration process. The Directorate has therefore finalized plans for holding a technical consultative session with Innoson Oil and Gas SL Ltd., to develop the next steps of the exploration process. Once this is accomplished, the Directorate will update the general public on progress accordingly.

Notably in May 2022, the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone (PSDL) launched its 5th License Round. It also reiterated an 8-point plan to streamline the petroleum license process and provide an investment environment to encourage international O&G companies to explore Sierra Leone’s offshore waters. Studies of the extensive seismic coverage in the area indicate potential multi-billion barrel prospects, presenting an exceptional exploration opportunity.

In total over 63,643 km² of open acreage is being made available in the fifth round, delineated into 56 blocks with each block covering approximately 1,360 km². The Directorate has indicated that a minimum of three of these graticular blocks constitute a Contract Area.

As a follow up the above Licensing bid, on 13^th of September 2022, The Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL), through the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone (PDSL), announced an extension of the timeframe for the Republic of Sierra Leone’s 5th Offshore License Round to accommodate the increased interest from International and National Oil Companies and provide them with the time needed to complete their G&G analysis.

PDSL has announced an extension of the deadline for the submission of a formal bid from Friday September 30th 2022, until Friday January 27th 2023 at 12:00GMT, to allow interested companies to become pre-qualified and to complete their technical evaluation. This extension is a result of the increased interest in the upstream petroleum sector in West Africa due to the sustained increase in the price of crude oil which has created exploration funding for most companies that were unable to raise the needed capital for frontier exploration.

 The new timeline will allow interested parties the opportunity to carefully review the existing 29,000 line-km 2D and 11,000 Km2 3D multi-client seismic data and to get the necessary exploration budget approved to submit a bid for acreage offshore Sierra Leone. Thereafter, PDSL will issue notice of awards to companies whose applications have been accepted and negotiation completed with the government to formalize a petroleum license agreement.

Data Availability

Seismic

• Sierra Leone Fusion 3D 2014 Repro PSTM = 7,121 sqkm
• Sierra Leone Mabesi 3D PSTM = 4,071 sqkm
• Sierra Leone 2D 2001 PSDM = 5,784 km incl gravmag
• Sierra Leone 2D infill 2013 PSDM = 10,487 km incl gravmag
• Sierra Leone transition Airborne magnetics

Wells

Interpretation products available from PDSL and TGS

So far there have been eight wells to test the deepwater setting in the continental slope. All have been submarine fan systems with prominent AVO anomalies. There is further evidence to suggest that there are also completely untested opportunities for commercial discoveries in the basin floor fans as well as in the more proximal northern domain of the Sierra Leone basin, for all see Figure 1. Another example of an unexplored play concept can be found in the perched basins, as depicted in Figure 2. These formed during the transpressional events during the rifting and micro plate rotations.

Figure 1. 3D Time Dip Line Southeast

Figure 2. 2D Depth Dip Line Northeast Horizon Cretaceous Marker

The perched basins are bounded by the outer high that in places controls the formation of structural traps. The water depth ranges are favorable for drilling with the deepest perched basins sitting in approximately 2400 m of water with a series of different trap types. The syn-rift contains many structural traps, and the erosion of these sediments indicates sea-level fall, thus allowing for deposition of shallower water sand-prone sediments within the perched rift basin. Examples of these shallower water sediments include braided channels and fan systems within stratigraphic pinch-out traps. The presence of progrades up-dip also implies that sand-prone fan systems are present in this perched rift basin.