Cameroon is stepping up efforts to revive its hydrocarbon sector by launching a major tender for oil and gas exploration in 2026. The Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), the public entity responsible for managing the country’s oil resources, is overseeing this ambitious operation, offering nine exploration blocks across two proven sedimentary basins: Rio del Rey and Douala/Kribi-Campo.
Open since August 2025, the tender aims to attract international investment as production from mature fields undergoes natural decline and fiscal revenues from the oil sector are expected to fall by more than 12% in 2026. The three blocks in the Rio del Rey basin—Ndian River, Bolongo Exploration and Bakassi—are in shallow waters and benefit from proximity to existing infrastructure and producing fields, reducing technical risks and development costs. These areas offer prospects for rapid development thanks to historical drilling data and already validated geological structures.
The other six blocks, in the Douala/Kribi-Campo basin—Etinde Exploration, Bomono, Nkombe-Nsepe, Tilapia, Ntem and Elombo—concern deeper waters and offer greater potential but also greater technical challenges, notably in drilling and complex geology. These opportunities form part of a risk diversification strategy for investors, combining low-risk assets close to infrastructure with higher-return frontier prospects.
SNH emphasizes a flexible contractual framework, including production-sharing agreements, concessions and risk-service contracts, to adapt terms to different operator profiles, from independents to international majors. Bidders have access to a data room available since September 2025 to assess 2D and 3D seismic data, well logs and geochemical studies. The bid submission deadline is March 30, 2026, with final awards expected in late April 2026.
This licensing round includes strong local content commitments, including employment targets for nationals, preferences for local suppliers, training programs and community investments. Environmental requirements also follow international standards while taking local ecological sensitivities into account.
The initiative comes at a key moment for Cameroon, which is seeking to stabilize public revenues while strengthening energy sovereignty. It coincides with other major sector developments, such as the imminent start-up of the Kribi refinery in 2026—the first major new refining facility in decades—and cross-border gas projects with Equatorial Guinea, notably around the Yoyo-Yolanda fields. These advances position the country as a strategic participant in Central Africa’s oil corridor, where existing infrastructure, regional connectivity and export prospects favor accelerated monetization of discoveries.
Market observers believe this award cycle could mark the start of a new phase of upstream investment in Central Africa, amid a global geopolitical and energy environment shaped by price volatility and the energy transition. The tender’s success will depend on Cameroon’s ability to demonstrate competitive fiscal terms and a reliable regulatory framework in the face of increased regional competition.