The Government of Liberia is preparing to launch its 2026 offshore direct negotiation licensing round in the fourth quarter of this year, with the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA) positioning new acreage, expanding seismic data and recent exploration activity as key drivers of the country’s next petroleum investment cycle.
The licensing strategy, according to Energy Capital & Power, was presented in Houston during Liberia Investor Day, organized in partnership with Energy Capital & Power, where LPRA Director General Marilyn Logan outlined the authority’s mandate, licensing framework and approach to attracting oil companies at different stages of investment readiness.
Logan said the direct negotiation process is designed to accommodate both companies already familiar with Liberia’s petroleum sector and new investors that may require additional time to acquire data and complete technical evaluations.
“Frontier exploration requires agreements that can work overtime,” Logan said, stressing the need for a licensing framework that allows investors to move at different speeds while maintaining a clear regulatory structure.
The upcoming round will be grounded in Liberia’s 2014 Petroleum Exploration and Production Act and its 2019 amendments. Petroleum agreements require joint execution with the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, providing a framework that reinforces fiscal oversight while maintaining regulatory separation.
Liberia entered the new licensing campaign following the award and ratification of eight deepwater Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in 2025, which generated more than US$27 million in signature bonuses and US$14.6 million in surface rentals.
Among the companies advancing exploration activities are TotalEnergies, which is pursuing work across blocks LB-06, LB-11, LB-17 and LB-29, and Oranto Petroleum, which is progressing programs across LB-15, LB-16, LB-22 and LB-24.
The developments are being presented by Liberian authorities as evidence of growing commercial interest in the country’s offshore petroleum acreage as the government prepares to open another phase of exploration.
Special Envoy for U.S. Trade and Investments at Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Isaac E. Taggart Jr., said the government is focused on attracting serious investors and strategic partners capable of bringing capital, technology and long-term expertise into the sector.
Liberia, he said, is seeking to move “from potential to execution” by creating partnerships capable of translating the country’s petroleum prospects into concrete investment and exploration activity.
A major part of the Houston showcase focused on the availability and expansion of geological and geophysical data that could help investors assess the risks associated with frontier exploration.
TGS announced that it is designing data coverage of up to 44,800 square kilometers across the Liberia and Harper Basins, covering deepwater and ultra-deepwater environments and targeting improved imaging of prospective areas.
TGS Business Development Manager Johnny Chigbo said access to high-quality technical information remains central to investment decisions.
“Access to data is the key to unlocking prospectivity,” Chigbo said, pointing to wide-tow acquisition, long offsets and frontier-imaging technology as tools to support companies in evaluating Liberia’s offshore opportunities.
The available portfolio includes more than 50,000 line-kilometers of 2D seismic data and approximately 31,000 square kilometers of 3D seismic coverage, providing potential investors with a broader technical basis for evaluating acreage ahead of the licensing round.
TGS Geoscience Director Henri Houllevigue said Liberia’s petroleum system has already been demonstrated through the Narina oil discoveries in Upper and Lower Cretaceous plays.
He said the basin architecture includes Early Cretaceous syn-rift structures and Late Cretaceous basin-floor fans, creating multiple geological targets for continued exploration.
The Houston Investor Day also featured technical presentations from Core Laboratories and KC Geoscience Consulting, with both companies highlighting opportunities for further analysis of Liberia’s petroleum potential, including in shallow-water areas.
Core Laboratories Vice President Joe Ramoin said Liberia possesses substantial technical information that can assist companies in evaluating exploration risks.
Liberia has “a lot of data to reduce the risk and uncertainty,” Ramoin said.
KC Geoscience Consulting Geoscience Advisor Karen Carlson said the company is examining what she described as “missed exploration plays” in shallow-water areas that have experienced limited exploration activity for more than four decades.
The presentations provided investors with geological, seismic and technical information intended to support acreage evaluation ahead of the planned licensing round.
The government’s strategy comes as Liberia seeks to build on recent offshore contracting activity and attract additional exploration capital into a sector that remains largely at the frontier stage.
For the LPRA, the Q4 direct negotiation round represents another opportunity to match Liberia’s offshore acreage with companies possessing the financial, technical and operational capacity required for frontier exploration.
The technical data presented in Houston, combined with recent PSC awards and ongoing activities by international operators, is expected to form part of the information base companies will use as they assess Liberia’s next offshore exploration opportunities.
The launch of the Liberia 2026 Offshore Direct Negotiation Licensing Round is scheduled to take place during African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 on October 14 at The Orchid, CTICC 2, in Cape Town, South Africa, where Liberia is expected to formally showcase the investment opportunities available under the new licensing cycle.
See more Liberia News Network stories in Google Search by adding LNN as one of your Preferred Sources.
★ Add LNN as a Preferred Source