The Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority has secured concrete pathways for technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund and multiple U.S. agencies to strengthen the country’s petroleum governance framework ahead of the 2026 Direct Negotiation Licensing Round and upcoming supervision contracts with TotalEnergies EP Liberia (TEEPLIB) and Oranto Petroleum Liberia, Ltd.
During a Washington, D.C. mission, LPRA officials held targeted discussions with the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, securing potential technical support for hydrocarbon fiscal modeling and revenue management frameworks.
IMF engagement aims to help Liberia refine fiscal terms and enhance revenue forecasting and public-finance safeguards linked to upstream activities.
Engagements with the U.S. Department of Commerce — including the Commercial Law Development Program and the International Trade Administration — identified assistance to modernize Liberia’s legal and regulatory framework for exploration and production, and to support investor outreach efforts for the 2026 Licensing Round.
These measures are expected to bolster transparency and make Liberia’s licensing round more attractive to reputable international investors, the agency said in a statement shared with the Oracle News Daily Monday.
Discussions at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) clarified financing instruments that could support petroleum-related projects.
LPRA said it will work to facilitate linkages between DFC and the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) to advance potential infrastructure investments consistent with NOCAL’s commercial mandate, a development that could help bridge financing gaps for pipelines, terminals, or platform-support facilities.
The U.S. Department of Energy advanced technical cooperation on upstream regulatory capacity, with a focus on petroleum data governance, licensing systems, and offshore health, safety and environmental standards — key areas for oversight of large international operators.
Talks with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) explored political risk insurance and credit enhancement tools designed to reduce investor risk and improve project bankability in Liberia’s nascent sector.
“These engagements have established clear pathways for technical cooperation and support. We will now translate these discussions into concrete actions that strengthen Liberia’s petroleum governance and investment readiness,” said Marilyn T. Logan, Director General of the LPRA.
The LPRA delegation was led by Director General Logan and included LPRA Board Chairman Jacob Kabakole, Senior Economic Advisor to the President Sahr Johnny, and board member Cllr. Kou Dorliae. The team was joined by Mr. Charles Allen, Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Liberia.
