Senegal—steady as she goes

A ministerial departure and a supermajor arrival reflect the rising stakes in West Africa's latest upstream player, but the president is playing it cool

Senegal is being well and truly blooded as a new oil and gas province. And as in the tradition of frontier exploration, the geopolitical risk is becoming murkier, as the list of discoveries grows. In the latest episode, the energy minister was sacked by President Macky Sall on the same day in early May that it was announced that France's Total had signed an agreement covering exploration and a production sharing contract for the 10,357 sq km Rufisque Offshore Profond block off the central Senegalese coast and would also assess the potential of Senegal's ultra-deepwater acreage. Total will hold a 90% stake in the block, with state oil company Petrosen taking the other 10%. Sall has given no r