Gabon is a mature oil producer in West Africa that has been facing declining output for more than a decade.
Gabon was a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 1975 to 1994, but it departed from the organization because of high annual fees.
Gabon’s economy is heavily dependent on its oil production. Oil revenue accounted for 45% of total government revenue, and hydrocarbon exports accounted for nearly 85% of total export revenue in 2014, according to the most recent data from the International Monetary Fund.
In 2011, the government created a national oil company (NOC), the Gabon Oil Company, to increase the government’s involvement in oil production by taking equity stakes in future awards. Gabon did not have a NOC for more than two decades after the previous company, Sociét Nationale Petroliére Gabonaise, was disbanded in 1987.
Gabon is among the top five oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The country produced around 213,000 barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum and other liquids in 2015. Gabon has diversified its crude oil export markets over the past few years and sends the majority of its production to Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Spain, France, and Trinidad and Tobago.