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Senegal, the former capital of French West Africa, is a country that has always strived to maintain relationship and integration with other neighboring countries. Senegal covers an area of 196 192 km² and density of 46h/km². Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mali to the east, Mauritania to the north, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south. Gambia is situated inside Senegal along the 320 kilometer stretch of the Gambian River.

Dakar

Dakar, the capital of Senegal, covers an area of 196,840 sq. km and is located on the Cape Verde Peninsula around the country’s Atlantic coast. There are other prominent cities in Senegal such as: Diourbel, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Rufisque, Saint-Louis, Thies, Tambacounda, Ziguinchor, Fatick, Matam, Kedougou, and Sedhiou.

Senegal became independent on April 4, 1960 as a result of the agreement for independence and transfer of power signed with France. Prior to gaining her independence on a separate platform, Senegal and the French Sudan had merged in January 1959, to form the Mali Federation which became independent on June20, 1960 Due to intense political frictions; the Mali Federation broke and was dissolved. Senegal and Sudan proclaimed independence, with Leopold Senghor a renowned poet from Senegal as the first elected president in September 1960. On February 1, 1982, Senegal went into another regional marriage by merging with Gambia to form the confederation of SeneGambia. Another stiff political rift led to the breakup of the confederation.

Senegal President
Abdoulaye Wade

Currently, Abdoulaye Wade is the president of the Republic of Senegal. Wade has been president since winning the 2000 election when he defeated Abdou Diouf who ruled the country from 1981-2000 after receiving power from Leopold Senghor who retired from active politics in 1981.

Petrosen

Djibril Kanoute
General Manager
Petrosen

PETROSEN, the Senegalese National Oil Company was established in 1981 to foster and implement the objectives of the State’s Petroleum Policy. The mission of Petrosen entails the promotion of the Senegalese sedimentary basin; enhancing exploration activities, ensuring the production of oil and gas in the region and to participate in downstream activities such as: trade, supply, storage, refining and distribution products. Djibril Kanoute, the General Manager of Petrosen leads the management rudder of the company.

Exploration History

The traces of bitumen which were observed in limestones near Dakar in 1917 gave hope of the presence of hydrocarbon in Senegal. However, petroleum exploration in Senegal did not really start until 1952 when a program of surface geology, geophysics and stratigraphic well reconnaissance was conducted by the Bureau de Recherche Petroliere (BRP) and resulted in oil and gas shows in well D – 4. Since then exploration has intensified with the drilling of 101 wells between 1952 and 1972.

Since its foundation in 1981, PETROSEN has been trying to maintain and improve the level of exploration. Since 1981, 20 wells have been drilled and about 27000Km of 2D seismic and 2820Km of 3D required.

Future Directions of Hydrocarbon Exploration in Senegal

Since 1997, Petrosen has been engaged in the exploration of new petroleum plays, with support of its promotional tools such as: the Petroleum Databank, the Geo Science Center with workstations like Geovecteur. Plus for 2D seismic processing, IntegraPlus and Stratimagic modern tools for geological and geophysical interpretation, Petrocaem for modelisation and the up-to-date system of log analysis and Cartography the Geographix Discovery.

New Plays

• The Senonian Sandtones in Tamna east and Gadiaga in the Thies Permit.
• The Neocomia Carbonate in the Mont Rolland zone.
• The Paleozoic basin which extends from North to South along a 100km wide belt East of the 16 degree Meridian.
• The Deep Offshore with first exploration works carried by Western Geophysical in 1997 and 1998, and Vanco energy since 1999 in the Dakar Offshore profound permit and where the prospects of Saint Louis in the North and Palmasian in the south near the Gambian border have been evidentialized.

Conclusion

The Senegal Sedimentary Basin has an established petroleum potential with oil and gas present at Diamniado, Gadiaga and Dome Flore area.

Geochemical studies show this basin contains world class source rocks aged Cenomanian and Turonian. The existence of proved petroleum system in deep offshores and underdeveloped 60,000 km2 Paleozoic basin and the stimulating juridical and fiscal environment of the Petroleum Code (Law no. 98-95) make hydrocarbon exploration in Senegal attractive..