NOUAKCHOTT - Small Canadian firm Winfield Resources is pressing ahead with a proposed $3-billion oil refinery in Mauritania despite growing doubts among government officials it will find investor backing.

The Vancouver-based company won a licence in 2008 to build a 300,000-barrel-per-day plant in the capital Nouakchott, among the biggest refinery projects currently proposed for the continent, but it said it is still lacking funds to proceed.

"It is no secret that Winfield needs partners to finance a project of this scale," said Winfield spokesman Maitre Bouna Elhacen. "The company is negotiating with several private financial backers including international banks."

Mauritania produces just 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day -- enough to keep a 300,000 bpd refinery running for less than an hour -- meaning crude would need to be imported. The country also has an existing 20,000 bpd refinery in the northern port city of Nouadhibou, which generally runs at less than a fifth of capacity due to years of underinvestment.

"Either Winfield withdraws its licence, or it revises its refinery project with more reasonable and realistic proposals," said Ahmed Ould Zein, an advisor in charge of legal affairs at Mauritania's energy ministry.

Winfield has proposed similar refining projects elsewhere in Africa, including Tunisia and Rwanda.

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300

Amount in thousands of barrels of oil a day stated in Winfield's refinery licence

10

Amount in thousands of barrels of oil a day Mauritania actually produces