Mauritania currently produces only 5,000 barrels of oil per day and a little gas, but it is planning to join the club of gas exporting countries next year after discovering large quantities on its shores.

According to government officials, Mauritania is expected to begin exporting the first shipments of its discovered gas next year, as work in the joint Turtle gas field with Senegal has reached a 70% completion.

The gas reserves discovered in Mauritania are estimated to be worth more than 100 trillion cubic meters, according to data released on May 24 by the Minister of Petroleum, Minerals, and Energy, Abdelsalam Ould Mohamed Saleh.

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The Minister noted that these reserves include the Turtle field, which Mauritania shares with Senegal, and whose reserves are estimated to be 25 trillion cubic feet of high-quality natural gas, with the remainder lying in Mauritania's territorial waters.

Specialists believe that once the discovered gas reserves are exploited, Mauritania will rank third in Africa, after Nigeria and Algeria, in terms of gas export. According to the Mauritanian government, plans to exploit its exclusive gas fields have been completed.

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The huge Mauritanian gas discoveries have attracted international and European companies in particular, as the activities of companies operating in the field of oil and gas in Mauritania have increased during the recent period.

Among the companies that have contracts with the Mauritanian government in the field of oil and gas exploration, are the British British Petroleum, the American companies Cosmos Energy and ExxonMobil, and the French Total.

Main actor on the energy map

The Assistant Executive Director for Production and Operations at British Petroleum, Jordan Pearl, said that with the start of gas exploitation, Mauritania will become a major player on the global energy map.

Pearl added, during a seminar in Nouakchott, that the country will become a supplier of gas to the world at a time when it is most needed and when "demand for gas is rising and supply capacity is declining."

He added that this project is large and has the ability to make real change in this country and in the ongoing global energy transformation.

The Mauritanian economic researcher, Khaled Ould Ahmedou, said the strategic location of the Mauritanian gas fields and their proximity to Europe, especially Spain, makes them a preferred destination for companies investing in the field of gas, noting that the current global conditions are favorable for Mauritania to start investing in its discovered fields, especially in light of the search for alternatives to Russian gas in Europe.

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Ould Ahmedou pointed out that some companies are still searching for gas in the Mauritanian coastal basin, especially the French company Total, for which the government renewed the search license weeks ago, which means that there may be new gas discoveries.