Senegal has become an oil-producing nation with the first off-shore platform as Australian company Woodside Energy Group Ltd. announced the beginning of production on Tuesday.

Senegal joined the club of oil-producing countries on Tuesday as Australian group Woodside Energy announced that production had started in the West African country's first offshore project.

The oil and gas sector is expected to generate more than $1 billion annually.

BBC reports that the Sangomar deep-water project, which also has gas, aims to produce 100,000 barrels of oil daily.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has committed to responsibly managing the proceeds from the sale of the nation's oil and gas. Australian energy giant Woodside has lauded the oil production in Senegal as a groundbreaking moment and a pivotal accomplishment for the company and the country.

The general manager of the national oil company Petrosen said the nation had entered a 'new era' when production began on Tuesday.

Petrosen maintains an 18% stake in the project, demonstrating a substantial commitment, while the majority is owned by Woodside Energy Group Ltd., a trusted and established industry leader.

Mr Faye, who was elected president in April, has been keen on renegotiating the deal as part of reforms he promised during the election campaign.

The President, speaking to students on Tuesday, revealed that an intergenerational fund had been established for the benefit of 'your generation and those to come.'

The country’s move to renegotiate oil and gas contracts has been seen by some analysts as making investors jittery, but government supporters have reportedly said that it is vital for the West African state to increase its stake in projects so that the nation benefits from its natural resources.

A former opposition politician, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who was a key figure in the president’s election campaign, recently insisted that contracts signed by previous administrations were ‘unfavorable’ to the country, and would be reviewed.

Sonko was quoted as saying on Tuesday, ‘We're the ones who promised you we'd renegotiate the contracts, and we're going to do it. We've started already.’ 

Theo Edwards for YAME