What have been the main recent developments for Deloitte Gabon over the past years, especially in the energy industry?

Deloitte in Gabon and Central Africa has continued the regional development of our practices and teams in different lines of professional services, including our Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and Consulting Services which are key pillars for the strategic development of our firm in Gabon, Central Africa, and the entire francophone African region. We have been extremely active in the energy resources and oil and gas sectors. 

Key changes in the oil and gas sector have put the focus on cost reductions, restructuring,  local content development and the integration of upstream, midstream, and downstream operations in the region - for instance, transformation projects in LNG, fertilizers, refinery plants and storage facilities to build an oil and gas value chain, which encompasses more local content and retains added value within the region. 

Deloitte is acting as a key player in Gabon and neighboring countries to provide a very large storefront of multidisciplinary services to the energy and oil and gas industry, in terms of Audit & Assurance, Tax & Legal, Business Process Solutions and Advisory services.

How was the oil and gas industry impacted by the recent change of governance in Gabon?

Many African countries have a sovereign vision of their oil and gas sector. In Gabon, policies have been put in place at the state level to have more control over the energy and resources industry and there is a clear strategic action plan for purchasing oil and gas interests from IOCs and private oil and gas companies, as we have seen since September 2023, with the new governance (CTRI) during the transition period. This has involved taking over the majority interests of Carlyle Group’s Assala Energy as well as Addax Petroleum’s oil and gas interests in Gabon. The Gabonese State and the national oil company GOC are entitled to hold a mandatory participating interest in a petroleum contract of up to 15%, and any acquisition by the state in excess of 15% must be purchased at market price. 

In this framework, the proactive strategy of the State in the oil and gas industry should position GOC as a prominent player in the short term.  

As far as the last updated Hydrocarbon Code is concerned, the regulatory framework has heavily impacted foreign investment and, since 2019, there have been slight adjustments in this Code to provide more attractive opportunities for companies looking to invest in Gabon’s oil and gas sector. However, we have not yet seen that these adjustments have significantly increased investment attractiveness. 

What are the biggest challenges oil and gas companies face today in Gabon, and what opportunities exist during this transition period? 

Local content laws as well as the tax and regulatory framework and the business climate are key challenges for existing and new foreign oil and gas operators in Gabon. 

In the upstream oil and gas sector, the undisputed leader Perenco Oil & Gas Gabon (POGG) has continued to increase its market share to now hold more than 50% of the production in the country. They are continuing to invest in sustainability projects in the oil and gas sector, as well as focusing on local content development and training. 

Gabon has realized that the energy transition will require a lot more use of gas, and efforts are being made to ensure sufficient availability of gas for the local population. POGG has opened a 15,000 t/y LPG plant in Batanga, Gabon, which will meet 35% of the domestic market’s LPG demand. There are significant opportunities for Gabon in the gas space.  

What are Deloitte Gabon’s objectives for the next two years? 

Deloitte Gabon will continue the regional development and diversification of our business, especially in terms of human capital and our consulting and risk advisory services. We are structuring our regional teams to be able to serve both international clients and national champions, aligned with our regional approach in Central Africa, to provide them with quality work and added-value services. Our strategy is to have a regional approach with specialized and mutualized teams in terms of skills and experience to serve our international clients operating in various African countries, with the same level of quality we have globally.