Gambia Announces Launch of the 2022 Licensing Round for Block A1

Gambia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has opened the ground for prospective bidders interested in Block A1 previously held by BP until August 2021. According to BP, the company exited Gambia’s A1 block as a result of its corporate strategy towards clean energy while the ministry accused the major of failing to achieve the work requirements in the acreage. The commitment includes the drilling of an exploration well with the company having already acquired and reprocessed 2D and 3D data and conducted of an Environmental Impact Assessment.

The government demanded to pay the difference between the agreed work commitment and the performed work commitment in accordance with the License terms with BP has agreeing to pay to the Government the relevant outstanding amounts as well as the balances of Training and Resources and Rentals due to Government.

Bidders have until the 6th of June to submit their bids through the E-Bid Platform.

Notice to Bidders

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (Ministry) is pleased to announce the launch of the 2022 Licensing Round for Block A1.

Prospective bidders are invited to download the Request for Proposal (RFP) which has been published on the Ministry’s website at https://www.mope.gm/downloads.

To be eligible to participate in the RFP, Bidders are required to register their interest with the Petroleum Commission by sending a completed Form A – Registration Letter (set out in Annex 2 of the RFP and published on the Ministry’s website) to GambiaLR@aglaw.com, and the Director General jrosemax@gmail.com, at least 6 weeks prior to the Proposal Deadline.

The Commission has prepared an online data room, the E-Bid Platform, where Bidders may download the RFP, relevant legislation, the Model PEPLA, as well as various other documents that may assist in the preparation of their Proposal.

Once the Bidder has registered its interest with the Commission using Form A – Registration Letter (Annex 2 of the RFP), the Bidder will receive an automatically generated email with instructions on how to access the E-Bid Platform, including how to set up a user name and password.

Note that registering as a Bidder and obtaining access to the E-Bid Platform, does not bind the entity to participate in the Licensing Round.

The proposal deadline is the 6 June 2022, with electronic submission through the E-Bid Platform.