The update was shared by Foday Mansaray, Director General, Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, at Invest in African Energy 2026 in Paris, where he outlined how the country is reshaping its upstream strategy to convert long-standing geological potential into bankable projects in a frontier West African play.

“We are pushing in a smart way to make sure we give ourselves the best chance of hitting commercial success in the next 12 months,” Mansaray said, pointing to a more disciplined exploration strategy anchored in data and sequencing rather than speculative drilling.

A central pillar of Sierra Leone’s approach is aggressive de-risking of the basin. The country has reprocessed legacy 3D seismic datasets, acquired new offshore surveys in the northwestern basin and commissioned independent basin-wide studies to reassess resource potential. “The objective is to ensure investors are not starting from zero,” Mansaray explained. “Early interpretations suggest up to 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil but these figures remain contingent on drilling confirmation.”

Beyond subsurface potential, Sierra Leone is also restructuring its legal and fiscal framework to improve investment competitiveness. The country has deliberately streamlined its regulatory processes to reduce delays between application, negotiation and parliamentary ratification. “We have taken a very deliberate approach – moving from promise to delivery,” Mansaray stressed. “We have reviewed our agreements and laws and stripped down most of the red tape,” he said.

The timeline for upstream approvals has been reduced to approximately 30 to 40 days, a shift aimed at positioning Sierra Leone alongside more established regional hydrocarbon hubs such as Nigeria. “We listen to the market,” Mansaray noted. “The biggest takeaway has been that it takes too long to close deals. So we asked ourselves: how do we move faster from commitment to execution?”

He noted that Sierra Leone maintains “three non-negotiables pillars”: contractual structure, royalty framework and state participation in petroleum resources. “Predictability is very important,” Mansaray added. “If you sign a contract today and the terms change in a year, that drives investment away. Consistency is what we will continue to defend.”

“We are not looking to shortchange ourselves but we are also not looking to discourage investment,” he said. “The goal is to find a sweet spot where investors remain profitable while the country secures development revenue.”

The broader strategy is already drawing renewed interest from international oil majors, including Shell, with whom Sierra Leone signed an exploration agreement at IAE 2026 on April 22, covering 18 offshore blocks, including several in ultra-deepwater acreage.

In parallel, Eni signed a separate agreement in November 2025 to explore five offshore blocks – G-113, G-129, G-130, G-131 and G-132 – further expanding the country’s upstream partnership base. Some of the Shell-operated blocks, including G-114, G-133 and G-112, sit adjacent to those now under Eni’s portfolio. Against this backdrop, Sierra Leone is now positioning itself to secure additional upstream partnerships as early as 2026, as it builds a more structured, data-driven and increasingly competitive offshore exploration portfolio.