Oil production rises 14% in first quarter

Cameroon's oil production rose by about 14 percent in the first quarter of 2015 from a year earlier, state oil firm SNH said on Monday, although revenues fell sharply due to weaker oil prices.

The Central African country began pumping oil in 1977 and output peaked at 185,000 barrels per day (bpd) a decade later. Cameroon's production in the January-March period was around 83,000 bpd and totalled 7.49 million barrels, the data showed.

SNH did not give a reason for the higher output versus 2014. However, last year it said output could double within two years due to new discoveries and methods to increase yields from mature fields.

Oil accounts for around 45 percent of Cameroon's foreign exchange earnings and the first quarter production yielded 72.6 billion CFA francs ($120.63 million), versus 113 billion CFA francs in the same period of 2014.

Brent oil prices were trading above $64 a barrel on Monday, down from more than $115 a barrel a year ago.