Italian oil and gas group Eni has pulled out of Mali, citing poor prospects in the land-locked African country
A spokesperson from Eni said, “Eni has handed back licenses it had because of the very low potential of the area.”
The spokesperson added that the licenses were handed back before the recent outbreak of violence in the country.
The company, in partnership with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach, had said in 2006 that it had acquired five exploration licenses in Mali’s Taoudeni Basin.
Eni’s announcement has come at a time when France dispatched more troops and conducted airstrikes to flush Islamist rebels from a town in central Mali.
This was after Al Qaeda militants controlling much of the country’s northern lands had hunkered down and warned of a more conflict ahead.
