DJ BG Sees No Impact, But Monitoring Mauritania Unrest -4-
The International Energy Agency says the Chinguetti field is estimated to have oil reserves of 100 million barrels and output is expected to start at 75,000 barrels a day.
The Tiof oilfield, part of PSC B, may contain up to 350 million barrels of oil.
Other companies, such as Dana Petroleum PLC (DNX.LN), France's Total SA (TOT), Spain's Repsol (REP) and the China National Petroleum Co. also have interests in oil and gas blocks in the country.
Sarah Meyers, a London-based North Africa analyst at consultancy Control Risks Group, said that a successful military coup, if it was to occur, could create "short-term instability".
But Meyers said oil activities were largely offshore and based outside the capital, Nouakchott, and so shouldn't be directly affected.
In the long term, she said, any new rulers would be likely to want to provide a stable operating environment for oil companies, as it is in any government's interest to develop resources.
Richard Reeves, a London-based country risk analyst for Africa at Jane's Information Group, said that a military coup was unlikely to succeed unless it came from the president's regional power base, the Atar area in the North Western part of the country.
He said that a hypothetical new ruler would be unlikely to break previously signed contracts as the country "would need to maintain confidence" in its fledgling oil industry.
However, a coup "could impede the development" of current projects by "undermining confidence" in the possibility of exporting oil, he said.
He said in the event of a coup, the Organization of African Unity could press for a blockade of trade relations against Mauritania, as it has done in the past for African countries with non-democratic regimes.
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