Mauritania signs two offshore oil and gas exploration contracts with Murphy Oil

Mauritania has signed two exploration and production contracts with US energy company Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) covering the offshore C10 and Tiof blocks, marking a fresh attempt to develop the country’s oil and gas resources beyond its existing production projects.

The agreements were signed in Nouakchott on November 3 by Energy and Petroleum Minister Mohamed Abdel Vetah and Murphy Oil’s senior vice-president for exploration and subsurface, Christopher Charles Olson, according to a government statement. The contracts cover acreage in Mauritania’s coastal sedimentary basin and are production-sharing contracts, Financial Afrik reported.

The ministry said the agreements would support renewed offshore exploration and strengthen cooperation with international energy companies. Neither side disclosed financial terms, participating interests, investment commitments, seismic programmes or drilling schedules.

The acreage includes previously explored areas. Tiof contains an oil discovery made by a Woodside-led consortium in 2003 that was never developed.

The signing follows months of negotiations. In an August 5 shareholder update, Murphy said it had applied for offshore exploration acreage in Mauritania during the second quarter and begun discussions with the government, with contracts expected to be finalised in the second half of 2026.

On July 8, the energy minister told the Council of Ministers that the government intended to sign exploration and production contracts for three offshore blocks with Murphy Oil and Chariot Limited (AIM: CHAR), which had applied separately, Upstream reported. The November agreements cover only C10 and Tiof and were announced with Murphy Oil; no participation by Chariot has been disclosed.

Murphy has been expanding its West African exploration portfolio. The Houston-based company announced an oil discovery at its Bubale-1X exploration well offshore Côte d’Ivoire on June 22 and reported successful appraisal results from the nearby Bubale West-1X well on October 12. It agreed key terms in August with Cameroon’s state oil company, SNH, for production-sharing contracts covering four offshore blocks, and said in its August update that it expected to finalise both the Mauritanian and Cameroonian contracts in the second half of 2026.

Mauritania is seeking to diversify its hydrocarbons industry after production at the Chinguetti oilfield ended in 2017. Its current offshore development centres on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim liquefied natural gas project, operated by BP (LSE: BP) on the maritime border with Senegal. The Murphy agreements concern separate acreage, with no drilling programme or commercial development decision yet disclosed.