NIAMEY, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Niger now has 44 oil blocks, 35 of which are open to investors, while four others are in the process of being reintegrated into the public domain, Minister of Petroleum Hamadou Tini has said.
More than 430 wells and a significant volume of seismic data are made available to operators interested in investing in Niger's petroleum sector, the minister said Thursday in an interview broadcast on national television.
"We are working to achieve a stable production of 110,000 barrels per day across our 112 discovered fields, in order to ensure both exports of 90,000 barrels per day and domestic market supply of 20,000 barrels per day," he said.
Regarding exploration prospects, the minister said it is still premature to provide precise figures on reserves for ongoing new projects, particularly in the Kafra block.
However, he said, proven reserves currently being exploited amount to around 853 million barrels, while potential resources are estimated at 2.7 billion barrels in the Kafra basin, and between 6.8 billion and 6.9 billion barrels in the western basin. ■