Oil production at Total SA’s subsidiary in the Republic of Congo has exceeded expectations, a company official said.

The company is pumping 200,000 barrels per day in the Central African nation, Martin Deffontaines, general manager of Total E&P Congo, said by phone Friday from Pointe Noire, Congo’s commercial capital.

“Its production is far more than what we had anticipated,” Deffontaines said.

Congo became an OPEC member in June. The central African nation is targeting a 65 percent increase in overall oil production this year.