Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has said profits from oil and gas sales will be “well managed” as the West African state begins producing oil for the first time.
Australian energy giant Woodside described the extraction as a “historic day” and a “major milestone” for the company and the nation.
Sangomar’s deepwater project, which also has gas, aims to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
It is expected to bring billions of dollars to Senegal and boost the economy.
Thierno Ly, the chief executive of national oil company Petrosen, said the country had entered a “new era” when production started on Tuesday.
“We have never been better positioned for opportunities for growth, innovation and success in our country’s economic and social development,” he said.
Petrosen has an 18% stake in the project, while Woodside owns the rest.
Faye, who was elected president in April, was keen to renegotiate the deal as part of the reforms he promised during the election campaign.
Speaking to students on Tuesday, he said the revenues would be “well managed” and that an “intergenerational fund” had been set up for the benefit of “your generation and future generations”, AFP news agency quoted him as saying. as said.
Some analysts have seen Senegal’s move to renegotiate oil and gas contracts making investors nervous, but government supporters say it is crucial that the West African state increases its stake in projects so the country can take advantage of its natural resources.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, a former opposition politician who was a key figure in the president’s election campaign, recently stressed that contracts signed by previous governments were “unfavorable” to the country and would be reviewed.
“We are the ones who promised you that we would renegotiate the contracts, and we are going to do that. We have already started,” the AFP quoted him as saying in an address to young people on Tuesday.
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