Cameroon launches oil bid round in effort to double production

Cameroon has launched a new six-block oil and gas licensing round in an effort to secure a new upstream investment and double its production, after seeing its regional rivals sign up some of the world's largest companies in recent months.

The round was formally launched by the Central African country's national oil company, Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), on the sidelines of the African Energy Week conference in Cape Town.

It features two blocks in the Rio del Rey Basin, two in the Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin and two in the Logone Birni Basin, SNH said, with a mixture of onshore and offshore acreage.

Pierre Eric Nkoa Nkoa, deputy exploration manager at SNH, told the conference that the results would be unveiled in June 2027.

Meanwhile, a source at the energy ministry told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, on Oct. 13 that Cameroon was currently producing 50,000 barrels/day of crude, but hopes to double it to 100,000 b/d through the licensing round.

The country's last acreage auction wrapped up in March and was dominated by US player Murphy Oil, which secured four blocks, but drew limited interest from international firms.

Cameroon has underperformed its peers in recent years, even as changing narratives about the energy transition and wars in Europe and Iran have driven a new wave of exploration activity along Africa's Atlantic coastline.

Gabon, Namibia, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and others have signed exploration deals with oil majors since last year, while established producers like Nigeria and Angola have secured significant new upstream investments.

Cameroon boasts 200 million barrels of proven oil reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and produced 186,000 b/d at its peak in 1985.

But underinvestment, field maturation and exits by international oil companies — including by US supermajor ExxonMobil — have affected production in recent years.

Anglo-French independent Perenco is the primary oil and gas producer in Cameroon, where it operates the Rio del Rey field and also pumps crude in neighboring Chad.

The country exported 53,000 b/d of its oil in September, according to ship tracking data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea.

Its crude — particularly its flagship Kole grade — finds buyers in China, Europe and elsewhere, while Cameroon is also the sole export route for 130,000 b/d of Chadian crude through a cross-border pipeline.

Kole has an API of 28.7 and 0.4% sulfur, making it comparable with Angola's Girassol grade.