Can Taoudeni revive Mauritanian exploration and production?

Undaunted by disappointments in its offshore – where the once much-hyped Chinguetti oil field is now producing only around 9,000 b/d – Mauritania has high hopes for onshore exploration and gas development. France’s Total, which is leading a pack of exploration companies with large licences in the unexplored Taoudeni Basin, is drilling its first well at Block Ta8, where it is expecting to find oil and gas. The well spudded in October and is expected to take around 100 days to drill. Total says it will drill a second well in 2010.