Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NOUAKCHOTT608
2009-09-21 09:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Nouakchott
Cable title:  

VENEZUELA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO CONSTRUCT AN OIL

Tags:  ECIN ENRG EIND PREL MR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNK #0608 2640917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210917Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8785
INFO RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO 0320
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0013
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0854
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY 3302
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1212
UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000608 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECIN ENRG EIND PREL MR
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO CONSTRUCT AN OIL

REFINERY IN MAURITANIA

UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000608

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECIN ENRG EIND PREL MR
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA ANNOUNCES PLANS TO CONSTRUCT AN OIL

REFINERY IN MAURITANIA


1. (U) In a statement released by the Venezuelan Ministry of
Information and covered widely in the Mauritanian press,
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela
reached an agreement with the GIRM to build a refinery in
Mauritania capable of processing 30,000 to 40,000 barrels of
crude oil per day, well above the current estimated
Mauritanian crude oil production of 9,000-12,000 barrels per
day.


2. (SBU) In the announcement, President Chavez noted that
this effort is to allow Mauritania to supply domestically
produced petroleum as fuel to itself and other countries in
West Africa, specifically Niger and Chad. President Chavez
implied that should Mauritania not be able to domestically
produce the necessary petroleum, imported Venezuelan
petroleum could make up the difference, and that this effort
will build closer ties between Venezuela and the countries of
West Africa which are Venezuelan friends and allies. While
covered widely in the Mauritanian press, there has been no
official GIRM confirmation of this project; leading one
Mauritanian working in the petroleum industry to speculate
that the proposal will never become reality, and was
announced only as a political statement on behalf of the
Venezuelans to carry favor with President Aziz and the
general public in Mauritania. If indeed there is an
agreement, it would likely be officially announced when
President Aziz visits Venezuela next week for the Second
African and South American Relations Conference, to be hosted
by President Chavez. Political analysts have suggested Aziz
is reaching out to Chavez to pressure Western donors to move
faster in restarting development assistance.


3. (SBU) Mauritania's sole refinery in Nouadhibou has been
out of service for years and, according to a recent US Coast
Guard port inspection team, is an environmental hazard.
Politicians from the northern regions have pushed for the
refinery to be refurbished, but most petroleum observers have
termed the existing plant too dilapidated and out-dated to be
usefully revamped. Mauritania has considered the idea of
building a new refinery on previous occasions, most recently
in 2008 when the Abdallahi government announced that the
Canadian company Winfield Resources was granted a license to
construct a 300,000 barrel per day refinery. That project has
since been abandoned following the coup d'etat that brought
President Aziz to power.
HANKINS