American oil exploration and production company Pioneer Natural Resources is planning exploration drilling in Tunisia during 2003. The firm expects capital spending in 2003 to reach up to $550 million, spent in Tunisia, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, the onshore Gulf Coast area, Alaska, Canada and Gabon. Approximately 22 percent of the company’s 2003 capital budget is allocated to Africa.
In 2001, Pioneer acquired leases on 3.8 million acres in Tunisia in North Africa. In mid-2002, Pioneer entered into definitive agreements with Gulf Canada Tunisia Limited to acquire Gulf Canada's 40 percent participating interest in the Borj El Khadra (BEK) permit in the Ghadames basin onshore southern Tunisia. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
