Across the basin, however, that relationship is evolving. All five NOCs are taking on more active and more commercially ambitious roles, whether through managing seismic data libraries and brokering frontier partnerships or, in Petrosen's case, preparing to operate a major deepwater gas development alone. The institutional transformation underway at these companies will be visible at MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2026 in Dakar, December 1-3, where each NOC is expected to present through the National Spotlight sessions and the inaugural MSGBC Data Room.

Petrosen, NOC of the host nation, leads the shift. The Senegalese company holds stakes in both of the basin's producing projects, GTA and Sangomar, and assumed full ownership of the Yakaar-Teranga gas field in April 2026 after Kosmos Energy's exit. Developing a 25 tcf deepwater resource as operator, with a $7.5 billion development cost, would put Petrosen in territory normally occupied by international majors. Observers have drawn comparisons to the successful operatorship of Petrobras in Brazil. How Petrosen can attract the financing and partnerships to deliver on that ambition is among the defining questions the conference will address.

Mauritania's SMH manages a different but no less formidable challenge. It oversees both the country's gas interests, including its stake in GTA and the massive BirAllah field at over 50 tcf, and its engagement with the green hydrogen developers positioning Mauritania as a future clean-fuel exporter. Holding both mandates simultaneously, along with their different regulatory regimes, SMH is building a broad level of institutional capability that sets them apart from other NOCs of its size.

GNPC in The Gambia and Petroguin in Guinea-Bissau operate at a different scale, with limited budgets and no production history as of yet. Their contribution is in facilitation, with Petroguin brokering Chevron's entry into two deepwater blocks in late 2025 and supporting the Atum-1X well – Guinea-Bissau's first offshore drilling in 17 years. GNPC has advocated for NOC-to-NOC collaboration with Petrosen to pool seismic data and de-risk acreage, and Eni's June 2026 award of Block A1 offshore The Gambia validated the strategy. Both NOCs are expected to present licensing and partnership opportunities through the MSGBC Investment Forum and Data Room.

Guinea's SONAP, established in 2021, is the youngest of the five and has moved aggressively to build credibility. It has built a National Seismic Data Visualization Center with SLB and TGS, holding roughly 15,000 square km of 3D and 45,000 square km of 2D data, and launched ISO certification to signal readiness to international partners. Eni's award of reconnaissance permits across 15 blocks in June 2026, covering nearly all of Guinea's offshore, suggests the investment in institutional capacity is paying off.

The five NOCs operate at vastly different scales and stages of development, but all five are more active and more consequential to basin-level decision-making than ever before. MSGBC 2026 will offer investors a direct view of that evolution through the National Spotlight presentations, the MSGBC Investment Forum and the Data Room, where governments and NOCs will present upstream opportunities, licensing frameworks and partnership structures directly.

Explore opportunities, foster partnerships and stay at the forefront of the MSGBC region's oil, gas and power sectors. Visit www.msgbcoilgasandpower.com to secure your participation at the MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2026 conference, December 1-3, Dakar. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.