The M’Bai Files: A Year of Uncovering The Gambia’s Offshore Oil Story

By: Seringe S.T. Touray, EIC, The Fatu Network

The investigation that now rests before the Supreme Court began on August 20th 2024, when The Fatu Network published “Whither The Gambia? The Saga of a Small Nation and its Missing Oil and Gas Resources”. In that first report, British and Gambian lawyer Ousman F. M’Bai raised early concerns about missing drilling data, opaque decisions by foreign operators and a growing suspicion that The Gambia’s offshore potential was not being fully disclosed to the public.

On September 16th and 17th 2024, the inquiry deepened with “The Shadow Over West Africa Oil and Gas”, a detailed look at FAR Ltd’s drilling results, its refusal to release key information and the possibility that parts of Senegal’s producing Sangomar reservoir may extend into Gambian waters. FAR Ltd is an Australian oil and gas explorer that held and operated The Gambia’s A2 and A5 offshore blocks through its subsidiary FAR Gambia Ltd, on trend with Senegal’s Sangomar field. The report also raised questions about Woodside Energy, an Australian exploration and production company that operates Senegal’s Sangomar offshore oil project with a majority stake, Petronas, Malaysia’s state owned oil company that entered the A2 and A5 blocks through its subsidiary PC Gambia Ltd, and Petrosen, Senegal’s national oil company and Woodside’s partner in Sangomar.

By January 6th 2025, The Fatu Network published “Shared Resources and Regional Equity” which shifted the discussion to regional governance and the legal principles that apply when reservoirs cross maritime boundaries. The article highlighted why the A2 block may hold strategic significance and introduced the public to longstanding concerns over resource sharing within the MSGBC Basin.

A major turning point arrived on May 14th 2025, with “Calls for Full Transparency”, which revealed that the Gambia Petroleum Commission had received FAR Ltd’s drilling data but had not released it. The same publication exposed the quiet redrawing of The Gambia’s offshore boundaries in 2023, a revision that reduced the size of the A2 block and removed the area containing the Bambo well.

June marked the beginning of public pressure on international operators. On June 7th 2025, M’Bai issued an open letter to FAR Ltd demanding clarification on data, drilling claims and licence waivers, published as “M’Bai Challenges FAR Ltd”. On June 10th 2025, he filed reports against FAR with Australian authorities, covered in “Breaking News: FAR Ltd Reported to Australian Authorities”. On June 17th 2025, The Fatu Network published “The Gambia, Sangomar and the Silence of Woodside”, reproducing his correspondence with Woodside Energy. That was followed on June 22nd 2025, by “Petronas and the Gambia Oil Scandal: When Silence Becomes Complicity”, an extensive commentary revealing Petronas’s complete refusal to answer questions about its role in the A2 and A5 blocks.

Diplomatic responsibility entered the spotlight on July 1st 2025, when letters sent by M’Bai to Senegal’s petroleum and foreign ministries were published under the headline “Press Update: Formal Letters Dispatched to Senegalese Authorities Regarding Gambia Senegal Hydrocarbon Concerns”, accompanied by the commentary “A Handshake with Consequences: The Unspoken Cost of Resource Exclusion for The Gambia”. These letters raised concerns about reservoir connectivity, boundary adjustments and the duty to hold unitisation talks under international law. Three weeks later, on July 20th 2025, The Fatu Network released “The Reservoir Knows No Border: But Senegal’s Silence Draws One”, an editorial reflecting on Senegal’s continued silence and the consequences for regional cooperation.

Legal escalation followed. On October 23rd 2025, M’Bai announced that he would proceed to court after the State failed to respond to his pre action notice. That step was reported in “Ousman F. M’Bai Moves to Court Over Redrawn A2 Offshore Boundary After 14 Day Deadline Lapses”, where he argued that the 2023 block demarcation raised constitutional and sovereign concerns that required judicial review.

That process has now reached its highest stage. On December 3rd 2025, The Fatu Network confirmed the filing of a public interest petition at the Supreme Court in a press release titled “Public Interest Petition Filed at Supreme Court to Protect The Gambia’s Offshore Oil and Gas Resources”. The petition seeks constitutional clarification, full disclosure, an independent technical review of offshore drilling results and judicial guidance on whether decisions affecting national wealth were taken lawfully and in the best interest of the Gambian people.

What began on August 20th 2024 with “Whither The Gambia? The Saga of a Small Nation and its Missing Oil and Gas Resources” has become a comprehensive examination of transparency, accountability and the stewardship of natural resources. The M’Bai Files now stand as one of the most significant public interest efforts in the country’s recent history, and the next chapter will be written inside the Supreme Court.

 By: Seringe S.T. Touray, EIC, The Fatu Network The investigation that now rests before the Supreme Court began on August 20th 2024, when The Fatu Network published “Whither The Gambia? The Saga of a Small Nation and its Missing Oil and Gas Resources”. In that first report, British and Gambian lawyer Ousman F. M’Bai raised The Fatu Network