(Ecofin Agency) - State oil firm, Gabon Oil Company (GOC), has signed its first oil production contract with the acquisition of the Mboumba field and hopes to make enough revenue soon, so as to compete with international firms for offshore blocks.

The acquisition of the Mboumba field will mean GOC has production of around 1,500 barrels per day.“The Mboumba field... (was) signed a few days ago with the oil ministry. Our strategy is to optimize our revenues onshore...to generate enough cash so that in two or three years we can be a major actor with offshore finds,” Arnauld Engandji-Alandji (photo), GOC managing director and former advisor to President Ali Bongo, said.

The Managing Director did not disclose how much the field was bought or whom it was purchased from, but according to Kitco news the field formerly belonged to Total Gabon.

The OPEC member and Africa's fourth largest producer (with an output of approximately 220,000 barrels per day) is controlled by international oil majors such as Total and Royal Dutch Shell.

In the past few years, Gabon allotted many new offshore licences with the hope that explorers would find huge reserves. However, falling oil prices ruined those hopes.The country’s state oil company was created by a decree in 2011 and has up till now focused mostly on selling crude oil and refined products produced by international companies.

Anita Fatunji