Senegal—steady as she goes
A ministerial departure and a supermajor arrival reflect the rising stakes in West Africa's latest upstream player, but the president is playing it cool
Senegal is being well and truly blooded as a new oil and gas province. And as in the tradition of frontier exploration, the geopolitical risk is becoming murkier, as the list of discoveries grows. In the latest episode, the energy minister was sacked by President Macky Sall on the same day in early May that it was announced that France's Total had signed an agreement covering exploration and a production sharing contract for the 10,357 sq km Rufisque Offshore Profond block off the central Senegalese coast and would also assess the potential of Senegal's ultra-deepwater acreage. Total will hold a 90% stake in the block, with state oil company Petrosen taking the other 10%. Sall has given no r
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
