DESPITE the political upheavals that currently beset various North African states, BG Group is planning to plough $300million into developing further production from its operated Miskar and Hasdrubal fields, offshore Tunisia in the Gulf of Gabes.
The official Tunisian news agency said Sami Iskander, BG’s vice-president for Africa, the Middle East and Asia, had announced the investment decision, following his recent meeting with interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Es-Sebsi.
Iskander said the investments were intended to keep production at an optimum level from the Miskar and Hasdrubal assets, and will include the drilling of new wells and the maintenance of field platforms in the Sfax region.
He added that his discussion with the Tunisian prime minister had focused on ways to attract more investment to the Tunisa, which has had its share of troubles, and improve the UK group’s relations with the community living close to its production sites.
The situation has improved, he said, in sites where the company had been facing a social crisis that hit the operation of its activities.
BG Tunisia, which satisfies almost 50% of Tunisia’s demand for natural gas, recently signed an agreement with representatives of the community living near the Sfax sites, in which it pledged to create 120 jobs and establish a $2million fund to finance social investment and micro-credit projects.