Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, announced the formation of a commission of legal, tax, and energy experts to reassess and adjust the country’s oil and gas contracts for national benefit.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who defeated the ruling coalition candidate in a landslide victory in March, ordered an audit of the oil, gas, and mining sectors after coming into office and vowed to renegotiate the terms of contracts with foreign operators in the country if needed.
Sonko said they were committed to their promise to the Senegalese people “to come back to these various agreements to re-examine them and work to rebalance them, obviously in the national interest.”
He said the commission will have sufficient resources to look into the contracts and hire experts from abroad if necessary. He did not say how long the review would take.
This follows Senegal’s recent debut as an oil producer. In June, Australia’s Woodside Energy announced that its Sangomar field had begun producing oil. Additionally, BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project is set to start gas production by the end of the year.
