CEO Brief: Licensing Rounds to Watch, July - December 2026

As I turn my attention globally in preparation for the World Energies Summit | The World’s Premier Global Upstream Conference | 29th - 30th September 2026 I promised by team a note on key Licensing Rounds to watch in H2 and as luck would have it, it makes a perfect CEO Brief for the week for me to share with you too. Africa still features heavily here, with global opportunities plentiful - it is a reminder of the competitive arena governments find themselves in and the need to think globally about how they are positioning.

The next six months are shaping up to be one of the most interesting licensing windows we have seen in the last few years. There is some exciting acreage and new opportunities on offer and governments are taking new and innovative approaches to market engagement and attracting investors.

Globally, we are seeing a recalibration in licensing strategy. Traditional competitive bid rounds are still important in proven basins, but increasingly governments are also turning toward direct negotiation, open-door systems and more flexible engagement models to attract capital into frontier areas which has pros and cons.

The reality is that companies want to look at more opportunities simultaneously and competition for their attention is steep. Not only do they want more acreage; but they are demanding excellent data quality, fiscal stability, regulatory credibility and the ability to move discoveries into commercially viable projects. As a result, governments have important decisions and choices to make and some are adapting quickly.

Here is my list of Licensing Rounds to Watch, July - December 2026;

Brazil remains the headline round to watch. ANP’s pre-salt Permanent Offer cycle is expected to culminate in a bid session on 7 October 2026, with 23 blocks across the Santos and Campos basins. The acreage includes ultra-deepwater opportunities adjacent to highly productive pre-salt trends that continue to attract majors and large independents. Brazil remains one of the few jurisdictions globally capable of attracting significant deepwater capital at because of resource quality, existing infrastructure and confidence in commercialisation pathways.

Algeria is also important. Algeria Bid Round 2026 offers seven exploration blocks, with the technical phase opening 1 June 2026, clarifications running until 31 October 2026, and bids due on 26 November 2026. The blocks are primarily gas-focused and strategically positioned close to existing export infrastructure into Europe. Algeria’s appeal lies in its combination of underexplored acreage, large gas potential and increasing government focus on commercial competitiveness and investor engagement.

Norway APA 2026 remains essential watching for companies focused on near-field, infrastructure-led barrels. Applications close 1 September 2026, with acreage available across the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. APA rounds continue to attract strong interest because they offer lower-risk exploration tied to existing infrastructure, shorter cycle times and a stable fiscal regime. In the current market, predictability is a major competitive advantage.

Malaysia Bid Round 2026 deserves attention because PETRONAS is offering both exploration and “ready-to-develop” opportunities: nine exploration blocks and six Discovered Resource Opportunities (DROs) across the Malay, Sarawak and Sabah basins. Bid submissions are expected in the second half of 2026. Investors are particularly interested in Malaysia’s ability to combine exploration upside with opportunities capable of near-term monetisation through existing LNG and gas infrastructure.

India’s OALP Round X includes 25 exploration blocks covering approximately 191,000 sq km across offshore and onshore basins. The current bid deadline has reportedly been extended to 19 June 2026. India remains attractive because of long-term domestic demand growth and basin scale, although investors continue to assess whether fiscal terms and regulatory structures are sufficiently competitive versus other global opportunities.

Suriname is perhaps one of the most interesting examples of how licensing strategies are evolving globally. Staatsolie’s offshore open-door process covers more than 70,000 sq km across five offshore sectors. Rather than operating under a rigid bid-round timeline, companies can negotiate PSCs and work programmes directly. The appeal is clear: the proximity to Guyana’s transformational discoveries, emerging infrastructure development and growing geological confidence following recent offshore success.

Beyond the headline rounds, several other jurisdictions deserve close attention;

Indonesia continues efforts to reposition itself competitively through revised PSC structures and improving fiscal flexibility. Several offshore and eastern Indonesia opportunities remain under active promotion, particularly gas-prone acreage targeting regional LNG demand.

Pakistan is also attempting to attract offshore investment through improved fiscal terms and renewed licensing efforts across underexplored basins in the Arabian Sea. The challenge will be translating geological potential into sustained international participation.

Argentina deserves close attention, particularly around Vaca Muerta expansion and offshore development ambitions. The country’s attraction lies in the scale of unconventional resources and increasing efforts to position Argentina as a globally competitive long-term hydrocarbon supplier.

Egypt also remains firmly on the watchlist. Through the Egypt Upstream Gateway, the government continues to market Mediterranean, Gulf of Suez and Western Desert acreage through rolling bid opportunities and digital data access. Egypt’s appeal lies in its existing infrastructure base, regional gas demand and increasingly sophisticated data-led licensing strategy.

Trinidad & Tobago continues to pursue offshore gas-focused investment opportunities linked to Atlantic LNG infrastructure and regional energy security priorities. Existing export infrastructure significantly improves commercial attractiveness compared with more isolated frontier opportunities.

Guyana remains highly selective but strategically important. While major block awards are limited, ongoing farm-in activity and future licensing opportunities around adjacent acreage continue to attract intense global interest following the success of the Stabroek Block.

Uruguay is highly relevant from an Atlantic Margin perspective. Following Namibia and Orange Basin success, investors continue reassessing South Atlantic conjugate margin plays, and Uruguay remains strategically interesting despite exploration risk.

Greenland is niche, but increasingly discussed in long-term Arctic and frontier resource conversations, particularly among frontier-focused explorers.

Lebanon / Eastern Mediterranean is politically sensitive, but renewed Eastern Med gas positioning and offshore agreements continue to keep the region strategically relevant.

US Gulf of Mexico federal lease sales obviously not frontier, but still globally important for benchmarking fiscal terms deepwater appetite and IOC capital allocation priorities.

Australia offshore acreage releases are particularly relevant for gas-focused investors given Asia-Pacific LNG demand dynamics and energy security positioning.

Industry friends, if I have not mentioned an opportunity you are working on or considering, comment away!

It is my view that a well run and competitive bid round remains highly effective in proven basins with strong geological confidence and genuine competition for acreage and possibly more controversially as raising the profile of a frontier opportunity that no-one has ever considered before such as Zanzibar and the work we did with SLB on the 1st Licensing Round. However, there is a growing trend across frontier and emerging basins, governments are becoming more pragmatic and relationship-driven in how they secure investment by engaging directly in negotiations in the short term. The question is will this yield results for the country in the longterm with the most best outcomes? We may never know.

One thing is for sure; countries with acreage to offer will benefit from an intentional and wider long-term investment strategy built around data access, building a great story, demonstrating regulatory trust and working very hard on listening to investors and potential partners.