Energy Minister Mohamed Abdel Vetah and Murphy’s senior vice-president for exploration and subsurface, Christopher Charles Olson, signed the two contracts in Nouakchott on 3 November. The Energy Ministry confirmed that both blocks lie in Mauritania’s coastal offshore basin.
The signing completes a step Murphy had outlined to shareholders on 5 August. The company said it had applied for Mauritanian offshore blocks during the second quarter and expected to finalise contracts in the second half of 2026.
The government is seeking renewed exploration alongside its existing gas-development ambitions. Mauritania and Senegal want offshore resources—including the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project operated by BP with Kosmos Energy—to support LNG exports and domestic industry. The Murphy agreements concern separate exploration acreage.
The ministry says substantial geological information already exists for C10 and Tiof, giving Murphy material to reassess the basin’s remaining potential. However, the contracts’ financial terms and work programmes have not been made public. Those details will determine the timing and scale of exploration spending, drilling and potential opportunities for suppliers; no production timetable was announced.