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Senegal has 4.3 Tcf of proven natural gas reserves but has remained a marginal producer with all its production to date coming from the onshore Gadiaga field operated by Fortesa International since 2002. Gas was initially sold to state utility SENELEC for power generation purposes before switching to SOCOCIM Industries - Senegal’s largest cement producer.
Since the 2010s, a series of major offshore gas discoveries has shifted the country’s energy strategy to include the development of an export and domestic gas industry expected to support the country’s development agenda. But as gas is developed for the export market, the absence of infrastructure between offshore production centers and domestic demand centres is preventing its utilisation domestically. Currently, some 70% of Senegal’s power is still generated from imported diesel and heavy fuel oil.
GDP (2023)
Proven Gas Reserves
Gas production (2023)
LNG exports (2024)
Population (2024)
Population in 2050
Gas monetised
President
Minister of Energy
CEO Petrosen
The country sits on several Tcf of proven gas across the GTA and Yakaar-Teranga discoveries
Senegal’s gas outlook took a turn in the mid-2010s with Kosmos Energy’s landmark deep-water gas discoveries at the Saint Louis Offshore Profond Block (Senegal) and C8 Block (Mauritania). The success of the initial exploration campaign led to the entry of bp into both countries at the end of 2016 to carry out a second exploration campaign that established some 15 Tcf of recoverable gas reserves at the Tortue Field alone, located across the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania.
Successful exploration led to the signing of an international cooperation agreement in 2018 by bp as a new operator, Kosmos Energy, and the governments of both nations. Phase 1 of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) development is currently under commissioning and involves a 2.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG export terminal with an FPSO and an FLNG unit, and a 70 MMscf/d domestic allocation split equally between Senegal and Mauritania. The first LNG cargo is expected in 2025 following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The GTA Phase 1 commissioning will be the first step in establishing Senegal as a world-class gas province and a major LNG hub. Phase 1 includes ultra-deepwater subsea wells, a large-bore gas subsea production system (SPS), the GTA FPSO (floating production, storage, and offloading) vessel with a capacity to process over 500 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) located 40km offshore, and the nearshore Gimi Floating LNG unit. Phase 2 is under study and could start production this decade, with a final investment decision possible in 2025.
South of GTA, Kosmos and Senegal’s national oil company Petrosen are progressing the Yakaar-Teranga development estimated to hold 25 tcf of gas-in-place. The project aims to provide competitively priced gas to the domestic market while supporting LNG exports by 2030.
Both the GTA and Yakaar-Teranga projects can position Senegal as a true gas frontier, ensuring gas is used to support industrialisation and displace heavy fuel oil (HFO) and diesel at home while maximising LNG export revenues.
Additional reserves exist to fuel the country’s future, including a potential monetisation of Woodside Energy’s associated gas at the Sangomar offshore oil project, which is currently being reinjected, and further development of FORTESA’s Gadiaga onshore field. FORTESA is currently maturing plans for a new 3-well drilling campaign onshore which could unlock additional gas and support a scale up of onshore production and monetisation over the coming years.
As gas is exported to generate dollar earnings, Senegal’s energy future relies above all on monetizing it domestically, in a country where imported heavy fuels dominate the electricity mix. Should gas be made available locally, Senegal expects its gas demand to grow to 2 Bcm in 2030 and 4 Bcm in 2050, half of which would be for power generation.
To support the emergence of a midstream and downstream gas sector, Senegal adopted a Gas Code in 2020 (Law N. 2020-06) to provide a regulatory framework for the sector. The Code stipulates third-party access to gas infrastructure, the establishment of a gas regulator, the protection of the rights and interests of producers and consumers, and the respect of international QHSE norms across the supply-chain.
Since then, the Réseau Gazier du Sénégal (RGS SA) - owned by national oil company PETROSEN (51%), the sovereign wealth fund FONSIS (39%), and state utility SENELEC (10%) - has proposed the building of a $300m, 472km pipeline network to connect the GTA and Yakaar-Teranga offshore gas fields with key consumption hubs across the country.
The network is critical to advancing decarbonization by supplying domestic gas to thermal plants set for conversion (Cap des Biches, Tobene, Sendou, Malicounda) and supporting new gas-to-power plants in development in Cap des Biches, Saint Louis and Mboro. Together, these power projects could deliver an estimated 2 GW of cleaner and cheaper thermal power, strengthening energy access and building grid resilience to achieve a target of 40% renewable energy in the electricity mix by 2035.
In addition, this future Senegal gas grid is expected to anchor the country’s gas-to-industry ambitions by supplying natural gas to key cement and fertilizer businesses like Dangote Cement, Sococim Industries, Industries Chimiques du Sénégal (ICS), and Petrosen Trading & Services’ planned petrochemicals plant. This strategy will accelerate industrialization and improve living standards in accordance with the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE), with a key target of producing some 1 million tonnes per year of ammonia/urea for farmers.
Without securing capital for its pipeline network, Senegal risks continued dependency on expensive gas imports. The Karmol FSRU arrived in Dakar in 2021 with plans to supply imported LNG to the 335 MW Karadeniz Powership Aysegul Sultan located in the Port of Dakar, but the rise in gas prices following the Russia-Ukraine war has delayed such plans. Meanwhile, local company Elton Oil is planning an LNG import terminal in the Port of Dakar to provide an alternative gas supply option to power plants at Cap des Biches while the domestic gas grid gets developed.
2025 will mark a critical turning point with the first LNG cargo exported from the GTA LNG hub, and could also lead to much-needed progress in financing and developing a gas grid able to bring gas to shore and distribute it to power stations and industries. But amidst a new global gas pricing environment and changing geopolitical landscape, meeting Senegal’s gas strategy targets will require sustained coordination and alignment between public and private stakeholders to get projects off the ground and secure their much-needed investments.
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Senegal is emerging as a key gas hub in West Africa, with the GTA and Sangomar projects reaching major production milestones and reshaping the country’s energy trajectory.
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Senegal is accelerating development of the Yakaar-Teranga gas field under Petrosen, strengthening its ambitions around domestic gas utilisation and long-term energy sovereignty.
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