Boost for hopes of finding oil offshore
Major companies show interest as government launches bid round for concessions

Sierra Leone is heavily dependent on oil imports, so it is easy to imagine what a major oil find could mean for the nation’s economy. As yet, Sierra Leone has no commercially proven oil reserves and no upstream oil industry. But that could soon change.
The dream has come a step closer to reality, with oil and gas companies being offered the chance to bid for offshore concessions. The government has put up approximately 17,500 square miles, divided into seven blocks, with offers to be submitted by March 2003.

The bid round, made possible by promulgation of a new oil law since the elections, attracted interest from both independents and major oil companies when it was announced in London and Houston in June.
Successful drilling in Cote d’Ivoire, to the east, and Mauritania to the north, has boosted hopes that Sierra Leone could become part of the oil boom.
Recent seismic data produced by a joint project by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company has led industry experts to believe the area could have hydrocarbon potential. The only way to know for certain that oil is there, however, is to drill.

VINCENT KANU Managing Director of Sierra Leone National Petroleum Company

Vincent Kanu, Managing Director of the private indigenous petroleum marketing firm, Sierra Leone National Petroleum Company, is understandably excited at the prospect.
“The indications that oil is there are very strong," he says. “When it is produced we shall be at the forefront to market the oil products. The role of National Petroleum would be complementary. We have the expertise and relevant contacts abroad. If and when our services are required by the government, we are there to provide them.”

As market leader, the company sees itself as acting in partnership with the government, contributing to the acceleration of economic growth by providing energy.
In addition to the government, its biggest customer, it supplies petroleum products to the major industries and to the U.N. peacekeeping force, UNAMSIL.
Mr. Kanu recognizes that as the country recovers and develops, there are bound to be changes in the market and the company anticipates operating in a more aggressive and competitive environment. “We favor competition," says Mr. Kanu. “Our objective is to provide better services all the time.”
Most of National Petroleum’s assets were vandalized during the period 1997-2000. It plans not only to refurbish but to rebuild its retail outlets to reflect worldwide industry standards.

“We are trying to rehabilitate all the places where there is a need to provide a service to the community,” says Mr. Kanu. “It is part of our commitment to the government that we provide services to the most remote parts of Sierra Leone and make sure that the ordinary man will not have to travel all the way to Freetown just to procure petroleum products.”

Plans to restart construction of hydroelectric power plant by end of year

There are plans to acquire a motorized barge or coastal tanker to resume the company’s bunkering (ship refuelling) business, which it believes has a lot of potential. Aviation refuelling is another possible area for expansion.
The company is also seeking commercial markets outside the government orbit. Future plans include rehabilitating and refurbishing its terminal and maximizing the use of its LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) filling plant to reduce the cost of LPG and expand the market for it.

Could offshore rigs like this appear in Sierra Leone’s waters? Surveys suggest oil is there

Assuming that the nation’s security situation continues to improve, the company forecasts steady growth up to 2005 when it expects to have more than 50 percent of the total market.
Petroleum-based generation dominates the electrical power supply system, which has been in a state of disrepair for decades. With electricity stations in the provinces destroyed in the war, and transmission and distribution
systems in need of rehabilitation, only Freetown, Bo and Kenema currently enjoy any semblance of power supplies.
Peace has created the opportunity to rebuild and to give the nation the reliable power its economy needs in order to grow. There is also potential for using new technologies utilizing alternative sources of energy for the electrification of rural areas.

“Electricity is central to development, not only in Freetown but also in the provinces,” says Emmanuel Grant, Minister of Energy and Power. “We are determined to ensure that the whole country is electrified within the shortest possible time.”
Particularly urgent is the need for funding for completion of a major project to build a hydroelectric power plant at Bumbuna in the north of the country, which could supply electricity to most of the regions. Co-financed by the Italian government, construction work started in 1990 but was disrupted by the war. “We have 85 percent of the job completed,” says Mr. Grant.
The government aims to get the project restarted by the end of this year, but has a major funding gap to fill. The cost of completing the project is estimated at $40.2 million.
The African Development Bank is to provide $8.7 million, but the remaining $31.5 million has yet to be found.