Why did petroleum production in Mauritania not become as profitable as early hopes suggested?

The initial optimism surrounding petroleum production in Mauritania, which began in 2006 at the offshore Chinguetti field, was tempered by disappointing results because the output from the field fell rapidly to only a fraction of its expected levels.12

While exploration in the early 2000s successfully identified significant reserves, the actual extraction rates failed to meet the high expectations that had been set for the industry as a major new source of national income. Despite these early setbacks, prospecting for both oil and natural gas has continued, with large deposits of gas discovered along the maritime border with Senegal in the 2010s.12