Production has started at Senegal's first offshore oil project, as the country's new government eyes higher profits from natural resources.
Chief executive officer, Australian group Woodside Energy, Meg O'Neill who revealed this in a statement, said the move marks a historic day for Senegal and for Woodside.
According to the statement the vessel extracting the oil is secured about 100 kilometers (60 miles) offshore at the Sangomar oil fields, which aims to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
The discovery of oil and gas off the coast of Senegal in 2014 raised hopes that the industry could generate billions of dollars in revenue for the developing country and transform its economy. But the new government, which came to power earlier this year, pledged to review oil and gas contracts with foreign companies, which it described as unfavorable to Senegal.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in his first address to the nation in April that the exploitation of the country’s natural resources, which according to the constitution belong to the people, will receive particular attention from his government.
At a rally in Dakar on Sunday, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko reaffirmed his administration's commitment to reviewing the contracts and promised that the country's share will be guaranteed.
Woodside Energy has an 82% stake in the project and the state-owned energy company Petrosen holds the remainder.
While Senegal's fossil fuel output is not expected to be as great as that of bigger producers such as Nigeria, Petrosen is expecting the sector to generate more than $1 billion per year over the next three decades.
The country also has a liquified natural gas project at the border with Mauritania and extraction is scheduled to begin at the end of this year.