Tunisia mulls oil drilling at 24 new sites

Tunisia plans to explore 24 new oil sites this year, Tunisia's official news agency said, citing the director-general of energy at the Ministry of Industry. Tunisia will invest 2.6 billion dinars (Dh6.32 billion) in hydrocarbons production this year, compared with 1.4 billion dinars in 2011, Khalid Qadour said, according to Agence Tunis Afrique Presse. Tunisia's hydrocarbons production dropped 9 per cent last year compared to 2010, Qadour said, according to the news agency known as Tap. The country will import about 300,000 tonnes of liquid petroleum gas, 1 million tonnes of diesel and 300,000 tonnes of fuel to meet its needs this year, he said, Tap reported.