18/12/2025
Update: ๐ฑ๐ท
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ . ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ต ๐ผ๐ป ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐๐บ
Today, the Liberian Senate ratified the Production Sharing Contract between the Republic of Liberia, Oranto Petroleum, and TotalEnergies. I voted for TotalEnergies and against Oranto Petroleum, but both agreements passed.
By ratifying the Oranto agreement, the Senate joined the Executive in squandering a critical opportunity to uphold the standards that Liberiaโs petroleum sector urgently needs. It sends a dangerous message that, in Liberia, paper guarantees can substitute for proven technical performance in acquiring petroleum rights. Even the signature bonus, a mandatory one-time payment, has been diluted into a four-year installment plan.
๐ก๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ'๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐
In reviewing the Oranto agreement, the Senate found no evidence that Oranto Petroleum has ever successfully executed frontier-phase exploration activities. Instead, the Executive presented a guarantee statement from Atlas Petroleum to cover Orantoโs obligations in Liberia.
Moreover, claims that Oranto Petroleum Ltd. has producing assets in Equatorial Guinea were found to be inaccurate. Evidence presented to the Senate showed that Atlas Petroleum International, not Oranto, holds operating interests in a producing asset in Equatorial Guinea. The record further confirms that Atlas and Oranto are distinct companies with different operational roles. Approving petroleum rights without verified technical capacity sets a dangerous precedent. It signals to underqualified companies that, in Liberiaโs petroleum sector, paper guarantees can replace proven competence and operational track record.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ป๐๐
Equally concerning is the restructuring of the signature bonus. A mandatory US$15 million payment for four blocks has been split into installments, with only US$5 million payable within four months of ratification. The remaining US$10 million is tied to future events: โupon acquisition of new seismic data,โ which Section 4.1 of the contract estimates may occur at the end of the second year, and โupon approval of the first exploration well,โ which Section 3.1 projects in the fourth year after ratification. By accepting a four-year plan for an obligation that should have been settled upfront, the Senate joined the Executive in weakening Liberiaโs negotiating position and creating incentives for speculative behavior in the petroleum sector.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ
The agreement also raises serious legal concerns regarding the exploration period. Section 21.1 of Liberiaโs Petroleum Law clearly limits the exploration phase to seven years, with extensions granted only after work commitments in earlier years are fulfilled. This framework is consistent with petroleum regimes across the region, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. However, this agreement grants Oranto a ten-year exploration period in violation of the law.
These deviations send the wrong signal and reopen Liberiaโs petroleum basin to underqualified companies whose business model is to acquire, hold, and flip blocks rather than explore and develop them. The agreement creates no safeguards against such practices. Instead, the Senate joined the Executive in accommodating this business model by accepting a mediocre share of the proceeds when blocks are flipped. That is not a safeguard; it is an incentive.
The additional three years granted to Oranto in violation of the petroleum law, the four-year payment plan for the signature bonus, and the reliance on paper guarantees in place of proven competence have positioned Liberia as a jurisdiction willing to compromise best practice for the short-term convenience of a businessman and his allies. This is a reputational and legal burden that the Senate and the Executive have placed on Liberiaโs petroleum sector for the temporary convenience of a few individuals.
My opposition to this agreement should not be misinterpreted as opposition to investment, exploration, or partnership. Liberia needs all three, and urgently. But we must pursue them within the law, with discipline, and with a clear commitment to the national interest over short-term pecuniary considerations. History will judge us not by how quickly we approved agreements, but by the standards we upheld when the future of Liberiaโs petroleum sector was being shaped.
They say that once you become a certain age, itโs your responsibility to unlearn behaviors that hinder your growth as a person. This is also true for nations. Liberia must learn from its past mistakes. I voted no to Oranto Petroleum because Liberia can, and must, do better.
