Guinea-Conakry Positions Itself as MSGBC’s Next Exploration Hotspot
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Guinea-Conakry is emerging as a promising frontier for hydrocarbon exploration, with new geological analogues pointing to strong commercial potential. Speaking during the MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2025 conference, Mohamed Mansaré, Upstream Director, Société Nationale du Pétrole (SONAP), underscored the country’s strategic proximity and simplified investment processes as major drivers of investment, highlighting opportunities in deepwater and onshore exploration.
According to Mansaré, Guinea-Conakry’s potential comes from its strategic location. He said: “In comparison, we have the same geological system as Senegal and Ivory Coast, so there is strong hydrocarbon potential.”
Mansaré also highlighted that five neighboring countries in the Gulf of Guinea - Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria - are already producing oil and/or gas, providing valuable geological and commercial analogues.
“There have been discoveries in most of the countries around us,” Mansaré noted, underscoring Guinea-Conakry’s comparable tectonic history and shared petroleum system elements with both neighboring and conjugate margins such as Suriname.
According to Mansaré, Guinea-Conakry’s offshore includes carbonate and clastic reservoir intervals from the Triassic to the Cretaceous, supported by three identified source rocks. Recent 2D and 3D seismic campaigns conducted through a partnership with data and analytics firm TGS have significantly enhanced subsurface understanding, with several mapped prospects and additional opportunities expected farther outboard.
“In deepwater, there are real investment opportunities and we encourage partners to come and explore in Guinea-Conakry,” Mansaré said. The country also benefits from extensive onshore basins, including the Paleozoic Bowé Basin and several Neo-Proterozoic basins such as Madina-Kuta and Kolènté. Three historical wells - Tomboya, Koumba and Tondon Bambaya - have already confirmed the presence of oil.
Mansaré concluded by emphasizing that, “Guinea-Conakry is a land of investment, attractive and open. We have simplified our investment process and offer attractive terms for future exploration ventures.”