oil refinery, page-4

In 1978 Mauritania completed construction of a US$140 million oil refinery at Nouadhibou. The refinery operated only briefly in 1982 and 1983 because of cost factors, shortages of crude oil, and technical difficulties. Between 1984 and 1987, the refinery underwent an Algerian-financed US$30 million rehabilitation to allow the processing of light Algerian crude. The project also included a butane bottling facility and a desalinization plant. The refinery reopened in early 1987 with a production capacity of 1 million tons per year. Refinery officials signed a five-year contract with Algeria's state-owned oil company to manage and market its products. A joint venture that included Mauritania, certain private interests, and the Algerian company was formed to bottle and market butane domestically. The butane plant, located in Nouakchott, started operations in 1987 with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons. Because of the high cost of Mauritanian-produced butane, the plant imported butane from Senegal for its operations.