Thali permit: Prime’s approved stake marks a decisive turning point for Cameroon’s offshore oil
A long-stalled chapter in Cameroon’s offshore oil story has just reached a decisive turning point. Tower Resources, the British operator of the Thali permit, has secured approval from the presidency at Etoudi to hand over 42.5 percent of its interests to Prime Global Energies. The move signals a major shift for a project that had been marking time for years. Although the deal still awaits final administrative sign-off, it carries an investment commitment of 15 million dollars from the incoming partner toward the work programme, with the NJOM-3 appraisal well firmly in its sights. Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 28 September 2026, that sum works out to roughly 8.65 billion FCFA.
The transaction is not structured as a direct cash payment to Tower. Instead, it takes the form of an investment commitment, the classic farm-out mechanism under which a partner bankrolls part of the technical programme in return for an equity interest. Prime Global Energies will join Thali as a non-operating partner, leaving day-to-day management of operations in the hands of Tower Resources Cameroon, the London group’s local subsidiary.
Administrative steps in Yaoundé still pending
Presidential authorisation notwithstanding, the administrative chain is not yet complete. In its half-year accounts drawn up to 30 June and published on 28 September, Tower states that it has seen a copy of the letter from the presidency addressed to the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (Minmidt) and the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH). Minmidt must still prepare the order extending the initial exploration period and forward the formal letter approving the transfer.
Until those duly executed documents are in the parties’ hands, the operation remains on hold. The company acknowledges that the completion timetable is still uncertain at this stage. Such caution is far from trivial: the exploration programme is already several years behind schedule, starved of the financial means needed to launch drilling work.
Prime Global Energies, registered in the United Kingdom and specialised in upstream oil and gas, is no stranger to the sector. The company still carried the name Prime Pakistan Limited until December 2024, having previously operated as Eni Pakistan Limited. That lineage with the Italian group Eni gives it operational experience that could reassure Cameroonian authorities about the technical solidity of the new partner.
NJOM-3 pushed back to the second quarter of 2027
Prime’s entry is chiefly aimed at locking down financing for NJOM-3, the next appraisal well planned on Thali. Tower has revised its schedule: drilling should begin in early the second quarter of 2027, from April onwards, against an earlier assumption of the first quarter. An earlier start is not entirely ruled out, but management prefers to stick with the more prudent window in its forecasts.
“We currently plan to start drilling in early the second quarter of 2027,” says Jeremy Asher, chairman and chief executive of Tower Resources. The choice of drilling rig has not yet been contracted. The company continues to review available units on the market and has decided to stop communicating on the matter until a firm contract is signed. Arrangements with the other service providers needed for the operation, by contrast, are already in place.
Part of the logistics is even set up in Douala. Tower has stored there, alongside other equipment destined for NJOM-3, a system that allows the well to be suspended after testing and later reused for production, should test results prove encouraging.
A cash-starved balance sheet that makes the deal vital
Prime’s contribution is close to existential for Tower. The group notes in its accounts that it will need either to complete the Cameroonian farm-out, or conclude another transaction on its assets, or raise additional capital to meet its commitments. As of 30 June 2026, the company held only 66,583 dollars in cash against 2.91 million dollars in current liabilities. It has never produced a barrel and generates no revenue.
Over the first half, 453,000 dollars of expenditure was capitalised in Cameroon, against 982,000 dollars a year earlier. Those commitments cover NJOM-3 preparation, engineering studies, drilling planning and the running of the Douala office. The 15 million dollars promised by Prime should be enough to cover the balance needed for the appraisal well. Subsequent testing and any commercial development of the field will require fresh rounds of financing.
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