Mauritania’s capital, Nouakchott
Mixed outlook for Mauritania’s upstream
As a major LNG scheme continues to advance on the Mauritania-Senegal border, other Mauritanian upstream prospects may be left behind
Mauritania is attempting to encourage further exploration of its offshore gas prospects, in addition to the ongoing development of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project shared with neighbouring Senegal. But despite that scheme’s progress, there is little indication of the potentially large-scale Orca-1 prospect advancing. Norwegian oil services firm TGS—backed by Mauritania’s ministry of hydrocarbons and what it describes as “industry funding”—will carry out a seismic survey in the Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry basin off the Mauritanian coast. The survey will examine “ultra-deep and deepwater areas” in order “to build on the success [of] Greater Tortue Ahmeyim”. The seismic data will
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
