Total has said that crude oil production at its subsidiary in the Republic of Congo has exceeded expectations. The company is pumping 200,000 barrels per day in the country, Martin Deffontaines, general manager of Total E&P Congo, said from Pointe Noire, Congo’s commercial capital.
“Its production is far more than what we had anticipated,” Deffontaines said.
It is hoping to raise oil production by as much 65 percent this year as two new projects come on stream, Jean-Marc Thystere-Tchicaya, the hydrocarbons minister said after it pumped 291,000 barrels per day last year, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
In hopes to attract new investors to its oil industry, which is dominated by Total and Eni, Congo became an OPEC member in June. “This accession to OPEC membership comes at a time when Congo expects to see an increase in its oil production,” he said.
