Breakthrough over massive offshore gas field

Mauritania and Senegal on Friday signed an agreement on joint exploitation of a vast offshore gas field, but gave themselves more time to address a dispute over fishing. A report on The Citizen site notes that the two countries signed an intergovernmental co-operation agreement for the Grand Tortue/Ahmeyim gas field, which straddles their shared maritime border. The gas field is estimated to hold 450bn cubic metres of gas. Senegal, announcing its discovery in January 2016, described it as the biggest offshore gas deposit in West Africa. An official at the Mauritanian Ministry for Oil, Energy and Mines said the accord covers ‘development of the exploitation and sharing of resources’ of the field as well as a dispute settlement procedure, the report states.