According to Gabonmediatime, citing the sectoral economic briefing published by the Ministry of Economy and Shareholdings via the Directorate General of Economy and Fiscal Policy, Gabon's entire extractive sector contracted 1.2% in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, bringing the cumulative decline over the first nine months of the year to 3.0%.
According to the article, oil production fell 4.3% in the third quarter, after a 1.3% decline in the second quarter, bringing the cumulative nine-month decline to 2.1%, due to recurring technical problems, the ageing of mature fields and operational constraints that forced operators to lower their forecasts. Gas production contracted 1.7% in the third quarter, after a 2.8% drop in the second quarter, a cumulative nine-month decline of 5.4%, attributed to weak demand and equipment unavailability limiting market supply capacity.
By contrast, manganese production grew 8.6% in the third quarter of 2025, while remaining down 5.2% over the first nine months of the year. Gabonmediatime attributes this quarterly rebound to a catch-up effect following earlier disruptions, including labour action, technical stoppages and logistical difficulties in reaching the port of Owendo.
