The Mauritanian state-owned daily “Horizons” has reported that Malaysian firm Petronas, which operates the Chinguetti offshore oil field in Mauritania, has pledged to continue investing in the oil field of the country.
This pledge was made on Monday by Petronas vice-president Datik Abdullah Karim to the press in Nouakchott, the newspaper reported in its Tuesday issue.
Karim, who was coming out of a meeting with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, arrived in the Mauritanian capital with a strong delegation of the Malaysian firm.
Two years ago, Petronas bought from the Australian company Woodside the operating rights of the Chinguetti wells which currently produce an average of 15,000 barrels per day (b/d).
“When we arrived, we started a major drilling program not only at the Chinguetti field but also in other offshore blocks,” he added.
Karim averred that this program has allowed Petronas to “significantly increase the production level of Chinguetti and also to better know the geology of already identified prospecting.
The Chinguetti wells had been put into production since 24 February 2006, at a rate of 75,000 b/d, but technical problems arose quickly after, limiting the production to less than 30,000 b/d in 2006 and less than 20,000 b/d in 2007 on average.
Source African Press Agency
