Australia's Woodside Petroleum today said it had agreed to sell its oil interests in Mauritania for US$418 million to Petronas Australia, a subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned oil and gas company.

Woodside, 34 percent owned by the Royal Dutch Shell group, said the sale included all its onshore and offshore producing, development, and exploration interests in the northwest African country.

The assets include the producing offshore Chinguetti oilfield and other offshore oil discoveries including the undeveloped Tiof field.

Chinguetti, estimated to contain about 123 million barrels of recoverable oil, has failed to meet expectations since production began in early 2006.

In the second quarter it produced 1.55 million barrels of oil, up from 1.31 million barrels in the first quarter but still short of expectations when the field was developed.

Woodside, the operator, has a 47.83 percent stake in Chinguetti. The company said it is continuing to examine its options in relation to its remaining African assets.