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Press Release (22)
GOL Extends Licensing Round, 2020; Incorporates New Flexible and Attractive Commercial Terms
Monrovia, November 10, 2020. The Government of Liberia (GOL), through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), has announced an extension of the timeframe for the Liberia License Round, 2020 affecting nine (9) blocks in the highly prospective Harper Basin.
LPRA Pre-qualifies Liberian Owned Companies to Participate in the Liberia Offshore License Round 2020
MONROVIA, August 25, 2020. Following a vigorous evaluation of Liberian companies who applied to be pre-qualified for the country’s ongoing Offshore License Round for the Harper Basin, The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) has pre-qualified Seven (7) Liberian Companies. Nine (9) companies expressed interest to be pre-qualified but the evaluation panel denied two companies for lack of legal and financial competence.
The evaluation team which comprised of representatives from the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Finance the Liberia Revenue Authority, Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and LPRA pre-qualified the following companies: DEMUS Exploration and Production, Jungle Energy Power INC, New Millennium Oil and Gas, Africa Oil and Gas Inc, Green Petroleum (Liberia) Limited, MAC-Africa Petroleum Inc and the TSC Global Inc.
The pre-qualification of Liberian companies is in line with the New Petroleum Law of Liberia which sets aside a mandatory minimum 5% equity interest in all petroleum agreements to companies owned by natural persons of Liberian citizenship. The list of Liberian companies that has been pre-qualified by the LPRA will be submitted to qualified international bidders for possible partnership in fulfillment of the amended petroleum law. Nine oil offshore blocks which have been unexplored and undrilled in the Harper Basin are being offered for biding. The Bid Round runs from April 2020-February 2021.
Signed
Media and Communications Department
Liberia responds to Covid-19 Impact on the Oil Industry; adjusts bid evaluation criteria to lure investment in the Harper Basin
MONROVIA, July 14, 2020: The Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), has made significant adjustments to its bid evaluation criteria for the 2020 Offshore Licensing Round for the Harper Basin. These modifications, according to the Director General, Hon. Archie Donmo, “are in response to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the global price of oil, share price of E&P companies, and the sensitivity of the Government of Liberia towards mitigating this impact and attracting international investment in the Harper Basin, one of the untapped regions within the West Africa Transform Margin.”
These changes include the adjustment of requirements for signature bonus from a minimum of 8 million United States Dollars payable in one tranche to a more flexible option. Under this new adjustment, there will be no minimum requirement thereby allowing companies to submit bids describing their proposal for signature bonus. This allows the industry to determine the signature value for each block based on submissions. In addition to designating the signature bonus as a biddable item, LPRA has announced that interested bidders will have an opportunity to negotiate a payment schedule with the Government of Liberia. Also, LPRA has modified the mandatory 2D seismic data purchase requirement for the entire Harper Basin to require interested bidders to license 2D seismic data for the particular block (s) of interest.
Cognizant of the profound difficulties besetting exploration companies at the moment, the Government believes that these changes will incentivize investment in the Harper Basin and demonstrates its commitment to creating an enabling business environment, one of the promises made by HE President George M. Weah.
The 2020 Offshore Licensing Round was launched at a virtual event on April 10, 2020, opening up the request for pre-qualification of international E&P companies. The deadline for Pre-qualification is October 31, 2020. Companies that are pre-qualified and received “Notice of Qualification” will be allowed to submit formal bids for block (s) in the Harper Basin from November 2020-February 2021. Thereafter, LPRA will issue notice of awards to companies whose bids have been accepted and evaluated as most responsive and invite same to formalize a petroleum sharing agreement.
For further inquiry, please contact LPRA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +231777110110.
Signed:
Media and Communications Department
The Government of Liberia Announces Direct Negotiations for 33 Offshore Blocks
MONROVIA, May 28, 2021. In keeping with provisions of the Amended New Petroleum Law, 2019, the Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA, the Authority), working in collaboration with the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), announces its intention to open 33 offshore blocks (LB-1 to LB-33) for Direct Negotiations. These blocks cover the Harper and Liberia basins within the offshore Liberia acreage.
Government intensifies campaign for Indigenization in the Oil and Gas Sector: meets with local business organizations; extends pre-qualification timeframe
Monrovia, Liberia - As a means of ensuring that Liberian owned companies fully participate in the country’s ongoing offshore petroleum licensing round, the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) on Friday, June 5, 2020, held a meeting with representatives of the Liberia Business Association (LIBA), Liberia Chambers of Commerce (LCC) and the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL) to fully explain the processes and relevance of Liberian companies participating in the licensing round.
Monrovia, Liberia - As the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) has extended the time of submission of expression of interest for pre-qualification from Liberian companies wishing to participate in the country’s ongoing Offshore Licensing Round.
Request for Expressions of Interest from Liberian Companies to Be Pre-Qualified for Participation in the Liberia Offshore License Round 2020
The Government of Liberia, demonstrating its commitment to ensuring Liberian indigenous companies direct involvement in the petroleum sector, amended certain provisions of the New Petroleum Law setting aside a mandatory 5% interest in all petroleum agreements to companies owned by natural persons of Liberian citizenship.
Monrovia, Liberia - The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) reiterates its commitment to delivering the objectives of the Liberia License Round 2020 by commencing the request for pre-qualification on April 10, 2020, and officially launching the bid round on April 15, 2020.
The Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), wishes to inform all stakeholders and interested parties that the Offshore Licensing Round 2020 will be launched on Wednesday April 15, 2020. The launch ceremony will take place in Monrovia on 15th April within the Conference Hall of the Farmington Hotel near Roberts International Airport at 11:00am. The Authority also notes that should COVID-19 travel restrictions be raised, the decision to convert the physical meeting to an online ceremony only will be made. Companies interested in submitting request for pre-qualification will be informed about the status of the launch event on or before 1st April 2020. By this time, the LPRA will publish the procedure, criteria and requirements for prequalification and submission of bids.
LPRA, in collaboration with NOCAL, conducts 3-day Round Table Consultations on Petroleum Regulations, Strategy and Model PSC
Monrovia, February 20, 2020. Ahead of the April 2020 Liberia Offshore licensing round, the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), in collaboration with NOCAL, completed a three-day round-table consultation on February 19, 2020 with relevant stakeholders on pre-licensing round petroleum regulations, Liberia local content strategy and the model petroleum sharing contract (MPSC).
The consultation was organized to garner inputs and comments on the draft regulations, strategy and MPSC in a way that engenders broad-based participation of key stakeholder groups. On day one, members of civil society organizations, international organizations including IMF and USAID, along with business associations including the Liberian Business Association (LiBA), Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC), Paynesville Business Association and the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL) were all in attendance. During the second day of the consultation, selected government ministries and agencies including Liberia Revenue Authority, Liberia Land Authority, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Office of the Legal Advisor to the President, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Justice, etc were in attendance. On the final day, selected members of the legislature representing the House’s committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, committee on Hydrocarbon, committee on Judiciary, committee on Ways Means and Finance, and committee on Labor attended the consultation.
Two key draft regulations were presented for discussion including the regulations on pre-qualification of interested operators and participants for offshore petroleum rights and regulations on disclosure of ultimate beneficial ownership. Also, participants discussed the draft strategy on Liberians and Liberian businesses participation (local content) across the oil and gas value chain. Finally, the model Petroleum sharing agreement, which will be used as the framework agreement for granting petroleum rights, was reviewed and finalized.
In his opening remarks, Honorable Archie Donmo, Director General of LPRA, noted that “while Liberians are passionate about ensuring that the country and its people benefit from the Liberia’s potential oil and gas resources, it is important that the citizens be aware that such is only possible when the government grants licenses to international gas companies to explore for oil.” According to Mr. Domno, when a country has 33 blocks unencumbered and unlicensed as in the case of Liberia, the chances of discovering oil is impossible. “Liberia entire offshore acreage has been predominantly vacant for the last five years”, he continued.
The LPRA Boss pointed out that all institutional, regulatory and policy frameworks have been designed and as such it only prudent that Liberia as a country begins to utilize the opportunity of licensing blocks for oil and gas exploration. He however assured participants at the consultation that LPRA will operate within the confines of the law and under the principle of expediency to promote Liberia’s undiscovered assets.
Also, speaking at the consultation, the Vice President for Technical Services at the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), Dr. Lester Tenny, stressed the need for adequate investment to be made into the process leading to discovery, pointing out that there is a need for the National Government to invest and empowered LPRA. “In the absence of adequate financial support, it will be impossible to get the desire result from the impending bid round,” he mentioned.
Speaking on behalf of the members of the Senate, Senator George Tengbeh, chairman on the senate committee on energy and environment, noted that the bid round process is overdue and until we rally support for LPRA to host a successful round, Liberia will not benefit in any way from its potential oil and gas resources. His statement was buttressed by Representative Abu Kamara, Chairman on the House’s Committee on Hydrocarbon, that the legislature will ensure that LPRA conducts the bid round under the right policy and regulatory instruments to ensure transparency, accountability and equity in granting petroleum rights and promoting Liberians participation in the petroleum sector.
LPRA will now integrate comments generated from the consultations into the regulations, strategy and MPSC in preparation for the licensing round expected to commence in April 2020.
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Solicitation of Comments on Pre-qualification Requirements for Granting Offshore Petroleum Rights regulations
The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) has developed the draft regulations on ultimate beneficial ownership of interested operators or participants. As required by the New Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Reform Law, 2014, the Authority solicits comments from the public on these regulations. To access the draft regulations, kindly click here. All Comments must be submitted via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For further inquiry, please contact the Authority on 0777110110.
Solicitation of Comments on Disclosure of Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Regulations
The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) has developed the regulations on ultimate beneficial ownership of interested operators or participants. As required by the New Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Reform Law, 2014, the Authority solicits comments from the public on these draft regulations. To access the draft regulations, kindly click here. All Comments must be submitted via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For further inquiry, please contact the Authority on 0777110110.
President George M. Weah announces 2020 Offshore Licensing Round in the State of the Nation Address
January 28, 2020. Monrovia. Demonstrating his commitment to recommencing the country’s oil and gas program following a brief period of dormancy due to slump in oil prices and the Ebola crisis in 2014, the President of Liberia has announced that the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) will officially conduct the 4th Offshore Licensing Round targeting Nine (9) blocks within the Harper Basin. “My Fellow Liberians, I am pleased to announce to you today, that the Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), will open up the entire Harper Basin during the next Licensing Round beginning in April 2020”, the President revealed to the National Legislature in his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Commencing on April 10, 2020, the Bid Round is expected to last for a period of six (6) months covering activities of pre-qualification, bid solicitation, marketing events (roadshows), bid evaluation and declaration of winner. The President continued that two years ago, following his inauguration in 2018, he “pledged to accelerate actions towards advancing the nation’s aspiration for oil and gas discovery.” The vision is to “promote efficient institutional governance, integrate the principles of accountability and transparency, maximize revenue from potential petroleum resources, and supports Liberian citizens”, he intimated.
LPRA, in collaboration with NOCAL, and with technical support from TGS, will announce, over the next weeks, the procedure and requirements for participating in the bid rounds including pre-qualification criteria, locations of roadshows, data room access, and all pertinent information surrounding the licensing round.
Following the 2019 amendment to the petroleum law, LPRA re-demarcated the entire offshore acreage resorting into 33 blocks, out of which 24 blocks are located within the Liberia Basin and 9 blocks within the Harper Basin. The Harper Basin is one of the last unexplored and undrilled regions within the “West Africa Transform Margin (WATM)”, a 1,500km stretch, mostly covering Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and some aspects of Guinea, which have had huge discoveries of hydrocarbons.
Government of Liberia Identifies Offshore Blocks to be Tendered during the Next Licensing Round 2020
The Government of Liberia, through the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), has announced blocks to be offered during the next licensing round. Following an unsuccessful ratification of negotiated petroleum sharing contracts (PSCs) in 2014 climaxing the last bid round, the Government of Liberia made a shrewd and progressive decision, through a robust reform process, to provide efficient institutional governance system, maximize revenue from potential petroleum resources, and promote Liberia citizens’ participation. The reform, in addition to slump in oil prices and the Ebola crisis, resorted in a temporary dormancy within the sector. After the passage of the New Petroleum and Reform Law, 2014 and the setting up of the LPRA, the Government is now in a better position to proceed with the tendering process.
During the SEMICA International Conference on Mining, Energy, and Petroleum held in Monrovia from November 28-30, 2019, the President of Liberia, Dr. George M. Weah reiterated the government’s commitment to expanding exploration program and sustainably, efficiently as well as transparently manage the petroleum sector. He further admonished LPRA and NOCAL to work concertedly in realizing this national objective.
In a meeting held between NOCAL, LPRA and TGS (the geophysical company hosting Liberia’s offshore seismic data and rendering technical support), it was unanimously agreed that all parties have established the needed capabilities and internal mechanisms to ensure that the government conducts a successful bid round thereby attracting the right investors. The LPRA has disclosed that the next bid round, expected to commence in April 2020, will affect blocks within the Harper Basin. It is important to note that the 2019 amendment to the New Petroleum Law triggered a re-demarcation process resorting into Nine (9) blocks within the Harper Basin and 24 blocks within the Liberia Basin. The entire Harper Basin (9 blocks including from LB-25-LB33) will be tendered during the 2020 licensing round.
This is a watershed moment for the country and the Authority (LPRA) is excited to reach an agreement with all parties including TGS and NOCAL in promoting Liberia’s offshore acreage and attracting the needed investment in Liberia towards support for the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) under the aegis and leadership of President Dr. George Manneh Weah. A formal announcement on the actual licensing date in 2020 will be made at the soonest by His Excellency, Dr. Weah, based on recommendation from the Authority (LPRA), working in concert with NOCAL and TGS.