Bounty Oil Eyes Guyana-Scale Deepwater Play in Liberia Backed by L1 and Tribeca
Key Takeaways
- Bounty Oil & Gas has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of PetroQuest Liberia Deep Water LLC, gaining entry to Block LB-32 — the last unlicensed block in the Harper Basin — for $1.5 million upfront cash plus milestone-linked consideration.
- The $3.547 million placement at $0.012 per share is cornerstoned by institutional investors Tribeca Investment Partners and L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund, signalling sophisticated capital backing the West African deepwater thesis.
- TotalEnergies signed PSCs over blocks immediately west of LB-32 in January 2026, and Petrobras signed eight deepwater PSCs offshore Côte d'Ivoire in June 2026 — major-company activity that validates the play fairway surrounding Bounty's new block.
- Vendor consideration is heavily milestone-linked: 1 billion performance shares and $1.25 million in deferred cash only vest if an independent CPR confirms a P50 prospective resource of at least 800 million barrels recoverable and a binding farm-out agreement is executed within five years.
- Dave Wall, who grew 88 Energy's market cap from under A$10 million to over $1 billion across seven years, has been appointed as strategic adviser to lead farm-out preparation and capital markets strategy.
Bounty secures binding deal to enter deepwater Liberia, backed by institutional heavyweights
Bounty Oil & Gas NL has entered a binding share sale agreement to acquire 100% of the issued units in PetroQuest Liberia Deep Water LLC, gaining exposure to Block LB-32, a deepwater exploration block in the Harper Basin, offshore Liberia. The deal is backed by a placement of approximately $3,547,500 at $0.012 per share, cornerstoned by Tribeca Investment Partners, L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund, and S3 Consortium.
Block LB-32 spans 2,322 km² in water depths ranging from approximately 1,500 m to 4,200 m. Initial interpretation indicates the block contains a significant portion of the deepwater fan prospects Jupiter and Zeus, alongside other leads, covered by existing 2D and 3D seismic data.
LB-32 was the last unlicensed block in the Harper Basin at the time PetroQuest secured rights over it. The institutional weight behind the placement signals serious interest in a block that sits at the centre of a rapidly heating West African deepwater play.
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Block LB-32 — what makes this a high-impact exploration target
The Harper Basin and its global analogues
Prior to the opening of the Atlantic in the Cretaceous period, the Liberia-Sierra Leone margin lay directly opposite the Guyana-Suriname margin of South America. The two margins share the same rift-to-drift history, the same Aptian and Cenomanian-Turonian source rock intervals, and the same Upper Cretaceous deepwater fan reservoirs.
On the Guyana side, ExxonMobil’s Liza-1 discovery in the Stabroek Block in 2015 opened this play, with ExxonMobil now reporting discovered recoverable resources of approximately 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent from more than 30 discoveries. Bounty cautions explicitly that analogue basins do not guarantee exploration success, and that the Harper Basin basin floor fan play remains untested by drilling.
Regional proof of concept exists across the Cape Palmas transform in Côte d’Ivoire, where Eni’s Baleine discovery (estimated by Eni to hold approximately 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 Tcf of associated gas) was brought into production in August 2023. The Jupiter (Turonian) and Zeus (Cenomanian) fans on LB-32 sit directly above two regionally mature source rocks that are understood to charge discoveries at Jubilee (Ghana), Sangomar (Senegal), and the Guyana-Suriname Basin.
A deepwater fan, for context, is a large submarine deposit of sand-rich sediment that accumulated at the base of the ocean floor during ancient lowstands. These formations are prospective for oil because the porous sands can trap hydrocarbons migrating upward from mature source rocks below, sealed by overlying impermeable shales.
Major activity confirms the play fairway
The scale of major-company commitment in the immediate vicinity of LB-32 tells you something important about how the world’s largest operators view this play. Recent activity includes:
- TotalEnergies signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) over four Liberian Basin blocks (approximately 12,700 km²) in September 2025, and Atlas Oranto Petroleum signed PSCs over Blocks LB-15, LB-16, LB-22 and LB-24; both sets of new contracts were ratified by the Liberian legislature in December 2025 — the first upstream contracts signed in Liberia in over a decade.
- TotalEnergies entered a joint study and application agreement with BluEnergies over Blocks LB-26, LB-30 and LB-31 (approximately 8,924 km²) in January 2026, immediately west of LB-32, with a work programme that includes reprocessing of the full Sunfish 3D survey.
- Petrobras signed eight deepwater PSCs offshore Côte d’Ivoire in June 2026.
LB-32 is covered by approximately 656 km² of 3D seismic and approximately 753 line-km of 2D seismic. The 3D data forms the eastern portion of the TGS Sunfish 3D survey. Bounty has not yet reviewed the 3D data directly; the interpretation described in the announcement is based on published TGS and BluEnergies materials and the vendor’s technical work.
Deal structure — milestone-linked consideration aligns vendor upside with results
The transaction has been structured to link a material portion of vendor consideration to independent technical validation and farm-out delivery. Upfront cash exposure is limited, with the bulk of vendor upside conditional on milestones that only vest if the project demonstrates genuine resource scale and commercial traction.
| Component | Type | Amount / Quantity | Trigger / Timing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Consideration | Cash | $1,500,000 | On completion | Upfront |
| Consideration Shares | Equity | 863,152,609 shares at deemed issue price of $0.012 | On completion | Voluntary restriction deed applies |
| Conversion Shares | Equity | 86,315,261 shares at deemed issue price of $0.012 | On completion | Refunds prior exclusivity fee paid on behalf of vendors |
| Milestone 1 Performance Shares | Performance shares | 500,000,000 | Independent CPR confirming P50 (best estimate) prospective resource ≥800 mmbbls recoverable, geological chance of success ≥30%, within 5 years | Converts to shares on satisfaction |
| Milestone 2 Performance Shares | Performance shares | 500,000,000 | Execution of binding farm-out agreement in respect of LB-32, within 5 years | Converts to shares on satisfaction |
| Deferred Cash | Cash | $750,000 (Milestone 1) + $500,000 (Milestone 2) | On milestone satisfaction; paid within 10 business days | Paid within 10 business days of each milestone |
| Royalty | Production royalty | 1.75% gross overriding royalty | Production from Block LB-32; plus 50% of farm-in, signature, and discovery payments within 5 years of Farm-Out Agreement execution or acquisition completion | Royalty scales proportionally on farm-out or dilution |
The CPR must be commissioned within 12 months of completion, prepared to SPE-PRMS standard by a qualified petroleum reserves and resources evaluator. All conditions precedent must be satisfied or waived by 31 December 2026.
If the PSC for LB-32 has not been executed within 18 months of completion, Bounty may require buy-back and cancellation of all Consideration Shares and Performance Shares for no consideration, with vendors required to repay the Cash Consideration (excluding certain sunk costs) and any Deferred Cash Consideration. This buy-back protection substantially limits downside exposure if the regulatory pathway stalls.
Bounty Board
“…This transaction comes at a time when there have been significant movements by majors in the same play fairway in Liberia including TotalEnergies and in the adjoining jurisdictions including Petrobras and ExxonMobil.”
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Placement, pathway and next steps
Placement mechanics
The placement of approximately $3,547,500 at $0.012 per share (295,625,000 shares in total) is structured in two tranches. These are capital raise shares issued to investors — distinct from the Consideration Shares issued to vendors at the same deemed price as acquisition currency.
- Tranche 1: 177,718,255 shares issued under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 capacity, raising approximately $2,132,619, expected to be issued on or around 25 September 2026.
- Tranche 2: 117,906,745 shares raising approximately $1,414,881, subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming AGM. Bounty directors intend to participate in Tranche 2.
Proceeds are intended to fund the cash consideration, Block LB-32 costs (including the PSC and the TGS Sunfish 3D seismic data licence and reprocessing), existing project funding, transaction costs, and general working capital. Subject to shareholder approval, Oakley Capital Partners (sole lead manager) will have the discretion to raise a further $3,000,000 on the same terms for 90 days following receipt of shareholder approval.
Strategic adviser and road ahead
Dave Wall of GBA Capital Pty Ltd has been appointed as strategic adviser. Wall led 88 Energy for seven years, during which the company’s market capitalisation grew from less than A$10 million to more than $1 billion, including multiple operated well programmes and successful farm-outs. He was also instrumental in facilitating the listings of Invictus Energy Limited and Elixir Energy Limited.
Near-term milestones in sequence:
- Tranche 1 placement shares issued (on or around 25 September 2026)
- Due diligence completion (within 45 days of vendor information provision)
- TGS Sunfish 3D seismic data licence acquisition (first due diligence step)
- Shareholder approvals at upcoming AGM (Tranche 2, consideration shares, performance shares)
- PSC negotiation with NOCAL and LPRA — PetroQuest expects PSC and parliamentary ratification by January 2027 or shortly thereafter
- Independent CPR commissioned within 12 months of completion
- Farm-out preparation and negotiation
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