History of the Comorian petroleum sector

The geological history of the Comoros archipelago begins with the Karoo rifting which is the origin of the dislocation of Gondwana in the Lower Jurassic. This oceanic expansion would have created the Comoros Basin, which is in reality an expansion of the Somali and Mozambique Basins.

Studies conducted in the region show that the Comoros Basin has the same system of sedimentary deposits with the Rovuma Basin offshore of Mozambique where important gas deposits have been discovered. This geological similarity and petroleum discoveries in neighboring East African countries have led to a growing interest in the Comorian offshore.

The Union of Comoros launched the sector by signing a geophysical exploration contract with the American company ION GX-Technology Corporation in 2007. This contract allowed the acquisition of 10,000 km of multi-client 2D seismic data in the Comorian offshore.

To ensure the security and competitiveness of the sector, the Comorian state adopted in December 2012 a petroleum code (click here) that is very attractive and in line with the general orientation of international oil law.

Progress in the oil sector in Comoros

The geological knowledge of the East African region as well as the availability of 2D seismic data in the Comorian maritime territory have allowed the government of the Union of Comoros to sign oil contracts with some companies.

The first outcomes of these contracts are encouraging. Indeed, a petroleum system has been brought to light and prospects (deposits) have been identified with an interesting potential. On the other hand, the Comorian offshore is still undervalued, as eight (8) out of the 40 blocks (click here) are occupied, but only six (6) are under evaluation.