Gabon has revised its oil code to sharpen the competitiveness of deep and ultra-deepwater terms. "Not everybody engages in deep and ultra-deep," Kondja said, explaining why the government has targeted specific majors rather than pursuing broad licensing rounds.

Kondja pointed to the N'Gongui-2 well under state-owned Assala Energy as evidence the country's upstream reset is delivering. "The acquisition of Assala was a vision of our president -- this vision has become productive," he said. Assala, now fully owned by the Gabon Oil Company following a $1.3 billion acquisition from Carlyle Group in 2024, announced first oil at the Grand N'Gongui field on April 12. Peak production of more than 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) is expected through a phased 60-well program, with the minister targeting 50,000 bpd for Assala's broader portfolio.

The upstream push runs alongside a domestic industrialization agenda with a firm political deadline. Gabon's president has mandated that all resources, including iron, manganese, rare metals and gold, be processed inside the country by 2029. Gas is central to that plan, and Kondja framed it as a structural investment advantage. "Investing in Gabon has a double effect -- gas, which is clean energy, will maintain the carbon index for Gabon," he said, pointing to assets in the Gamba area targeted for deployment within 24 months.

Gabon holds 28 trillion cubic feet of tested onshore gas reserves and a new gas code with favorable investor terms is under development. In parallel, a 130 to 150km pipeline from Gamba south to Libreville is targeting completion within 24 months, with financing pledges already in place. "We have the potential, we have the oil, we have the demand. All we're looking for now is investments," Kondja said. Whether ExxonMobil and bp convert their MoUs on his timeline will be the first test of whether investors agree.