Madar (Nouakchott) - Mauritania on Tuesday evening, November 3, 2026, signed two exploration and production contracts with US company Murphy Oil covering offshore blocks C10 and Tioff in the Mauritanian coastal basin, the independent Alakhbar agency reported.
The contracts were signed by Energy and Petroleum Minister Mohamed Ould Abdel Vettah and the company's senior vice-president for exploration and geology, Christopher Charles Olson, after President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani received the company's delegation in the morning.
The energy and petroleum ministry said the partnership with Murphy Oil Corporation "represents a strategic turning point in the hydrocarbons sector," marking the resumption of exploration in the coastal basin and confirming Mauritania's place "among promising and attractive destinations for oil and gas investment."
Amid changes in the global energy sector, the deal reflects "the competitiveness of Mauritania's legal and regulatory framework, the country's political stability and the confidence of partners and major players," the ministry said in a statement.
With a promising offshore basin, safe and direct access to major world markets and a vision combining resource development with the energy transition, Mauritania "is emerging today as a safe and competitive exploration area," the ministry added. The terms of the contracts and their work programmes have not yet been made public.
