The Perth-based oil and gas giant told the market this morning the sale included all of its onshore and offshore producing, development and exploration interests in the west African nation.

It follows several announcements in recent months by Woodside managing director Don Voelte that the company was restructuring its exploration portfolio in a way that may see it exit Africa altogether to focus on its emerging liquefied natural gas business.

Mauritania’s offshore region became a new oil province with Woodside’s Chinguetti, Banda, Tiof and Tevet discoveries between 2001 and 2004, which have oil reserves of several hundred million barrels.

However, since coming online in February last year, production at the Chinguetti oil project has unexpectedly plummeted to about 15,000 barrels per day from 70,000bopd.

The output drop was blamed on the region’s complex geology, prompting Woodside to put the Tiof field on hold.

Woodside also has interests ranging from 37.5% to 53.8% in the four production sharing contracts in which it is the operator.

In 2005, Woodside also farmed-into two onshore blocks. These covered about 60,000 square kilometres in the Taoudeni Basin, near the Mali border, held by Perth-based junior Baraka Petroleum.

The sale will see Petronas buy all the shares in Woodside Mauritania and WEL Mauritania B.V. for US$418 million by January 2008.

Woodside said it would continue to examine its options for its remaining African assets, which include exploration ventures in Kenya and Libya, and a stake in the producing Ohanet natural gas venture in Algeria.