Since production started on February 24, the offshore Mauritanian field achieved its target production rate of 75,000 bbls of oil per day. Within three weeks, cumulative gross oil production exceeded 1 million barrels, Roc said.

The first cargo loading made on March 22 represents 60,000 bbls of oil net to Roc, which has a 3.25% interest in the project. This was also the company’s first oil sale from Africa.

Oil production from the field is also expected to allow Roc’s partner Hardman Resources to turn a profit in the June half, after reporting a $A19.1 million half-year loss for the December half, the company said earlier this week.

Hardman holds a 19.9% stake in Chinguetti, while other participants include operator Woodside, with 47.4%, Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures [formerly GPC] (12%), BG group companies (10.2%) and Premier group companies (8%).

While the Mauritanian Government is still disputing the validity of some supplementary agreements to the production-sharing contracts, this had not affected work or production, Hardman chief executive Simon Potter said.

“As we’ve seen with the start-up of Chinguetti and the rapid rise to capacity off-take, the dialogue with the Mauritanian Government hasn’t affected operations at all,” he said.

“From Hardman’s perspective, it hasn’t impacted our relationship with the Mauritanian Government, which remains good. As operator of the joint venture, Woodside is handling the discussions on this issue and … we don’t have any direct involvement in the discussions. We are hopeful that discussions will lead to a resolution in the near term.”

Failure to resolve the issue will lead to the dispute being taken before a European court for arbitration.