Policy And Legislations

One of the Commission’s mandate is to advise the Minister on the effectiveness and aptness of policies. The Commission references the ECOWAS Hydrocarbon Development Policy for guidance and based upon which it has developed, a five-year strategic plan (2020-2025). This strategic plan is annually used to develop the workplans.

The Commission has over the past years gathered wealth of experience, which has proven handy during, amongst other activities, licensing, licence management and arbitrations.

The Commission’s policy objectives are to support the Ministry in its overall mission of seeking to derive optimal benefit from the petroleum value chain by sustainably, regulating and managing the efficient and effective conduct of petroleum operations.

Towards this aim, the Commission’s specific objectives include undertaking open, transparent, and fair licensing process, managing the licenses through an efficient, effective, and predictable regime and maintaining a robust and integrated data management system.

The Petroleum Exploration, Development and Production Act, 2004 is the primary legislation that governs all petroleum operations in The Gambia and establishes the legal basis for the granting of petroleum rights to legal entities for the conduct of petroleum operations. (see Act)

The Petroleum Commission Act, 2021 establishes the Commission for the regulation and management of the upstream and midstream petroleum sub-sectors. (see Act)

The following legislations also interact or have an impact on the petroleum sector: