ALGIERS, Feb 9 (KUNA) -- An Algerian oil company signed a USD-11-million contract in the capital Bamako on Friday to explore and exploit oil in Mali.
Algeria's Sonatrach said in a release that the contract was hammered out by its Mali-based branch Sonatrach International Petroleum and Production, which is responsible for international activities in the oil production field.
The contract was inked by Mali's Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Ahmed Daian Semegha and Sonatrach CEO for International Affairs Mohamed Ben Hamo.
Under the just-signed four-year deal, the Algerian company will carry out geological and geophysical works and prospect for oil in an oil block in Mali, the release added.
The nearly-118,000-sqm Malian block, where the Algerian company will prospect for oil, is adjacent to the Algerian frontiers.
The Algerian oil company had earlier won 25 percent of a deal to exploit five oil blocks in Mali in partnership with another two Italian and Malian companies, and a further deal in Niger, let alone other projects in Niger and Mauritania, the statement pointed.
Such activities and deals come to prove the Algerian company's active role in the African Coast region, and to buttress African countries' efforts to explore and exploit energy, it said.
