The petroleum sector continues to provide opportunities for U.S. companies.  With the natural decline of mature oil fields, the government is developing its offshore, deep-water resources to achieve a target of doubling oil production to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2025. Gabon’s oil production has increased from February 2022 levels of of195,000 bpd to 215,000 bpd in August 2023 (CEIC). Largely attributed to ageing oilfields and lack of investment, the country is now committed to expanding exploration and increasing production. Presently, offshore resources account for more than 70 percent of the less than 2 billion barrels (2016 estimate) in reserves. Notwithstanding this decline, the oil sector remains the main contributor to the national budget.  According to the French Reports Economist, the share of oil in Gabon’s GDP stands at 51 percent in 2022, up from 38.5 percent in 2021. President Ali Bongo Ondimba had wanted to reduce the oil sector’s share of GDP to below 20 percent by 2025.  The transitional government has stated it also hopes to reduce the country’s dependance on oil production while diversifying the hydrocarbon sector as well as its economy.  Gabon’s focus on offshore development could open new opportunities for U.S. oil and gas technology and services. 

Gabon adopted and passed a revised Hydrocarbons Code in 2019 following extensive consultations with legal, academic, and tax experts who sought to make Gabon more attractive to international investment.  According to Gabon’s General Directorate for the Economy and Fiscal Policy (DGEPF), at the end of the first quarter of 2022, the production of Gabonese crude oil was estimated at 2.56 million tons against 2.49 million tons during the same period in 2021, an improvement of 2.8 percent. This increase is attributed to the commissioning of new wells.