ERHC Energy Inc (ERHE)

[rocky822]

Bingo! No doubt in my mind now. The part copied below is towards end of the article in link: (p.s. be sure and read the last paragraph!)

"In the words of Congressman William Jefferson (D-Louisiana) of the same Africa congressional Sub-Committee, “these [African] countries are not averse to having us forward-place assets there of all sorts, including military assets.” (IASPS African Oil Symposium Proceedings, p.25)

Bring on the tiny two-island state of São Tomé e Príncipe (this is pronounced roughly as “Sowng Tomay ee Preensp” in Portuguese, but it can be rendered in English as St. Thomas and Prince Islands, and is usually abbreviated to STP in the military jargon).

This impoverished former Portuguese colony of 170,000 inhabitants was known until now mainly for its cocoa plantations – it was at one time the world’s top cocoa producer. Like Gorée, it was once also a place of no return for slaves brought from the African mainland to work those plantations, because there was no local labour ( [8] ).

But it is now talked of as another potential Kuwait, and has been earmarked by the imperial strategists as a possible location for the regional homeport of a future US Forces Southern Atlantic sub-command, as proposed in a list of regional security recommendations of the African Oil Policy Initiative Group’s 2002 white paper ( [9] ). That paper goes on to suggest that “a US-Nigerian compact on regional security issues should be established to make the area more secure and thereby more attractive for direct foreign investment.”

“São Tomé and Príncipe just signed a joint exploration agreement with Nigeria. Whoever thought about that little place?” said congressman Jefferson. “But they are now estimating four billion barrels of oil in São Tomé and Príncipe. And that’s just the beginning.” (IASPS African Oil Symposium Proceedings, p. 23).

It is just the beginning, but of what, precisely? The historical record shows that the onset of sudden large oil revenues, like lottery prize money, can be a mixed blessing, especially in poor countries. Professor Teri Karl of Stanford University, co-author of the Catholic Relief Services June 2003 report “Bottom of the Barrel: Africa’s Oil Boom and the Poor” ( [10] ) was another speaker at the IASPS African Oil Symposium, and she warned:

“Across the board and across regions, oil over time reduces welfare, lowers growth rates, leads to political instability of oil exporting countries, causes great environmental damage, and also buffers regimes, authoritarian regimes that are violators of rights. This is not a Middle Eastern phenomenon; it’s not an African phenomenon; it’s not a Latin American phenomenon; it’s an oil phenomenon inserted into weak political and economic institutions.”

She went on, “Let me add one more thing…. There is very powerful statistical evidence linking oil and war. [..] In a series of statistical tests World Bank economists Collier and Huffler show that the most powerful risk factor for perpetuating civil war is the export of primary commodities, particularly mineral commodities.” (IASPS African Oil Symposium Proceedings, p.17)

Recent events seem to attest to the truth of these observations. Last month, STP was the scene of a military coup which temporarily deposed President Fradique de Menezes ( [11] ), apparently brought about by internal competition for the revenue to come from deep-water oil extraction in the oceans around the islands. Existing oil exploration rights are held by ERHC, a Houston-based subsidiary of the privately-owned Chrome Group, which operates mainly in neighbouring Nigeria, but, as reported by BBC News, further licenses to develop the offshore fields are due to be auctioned in 2004. Neither the oil nor the revenue has yet started to flow, yet already there is a scramble for the spoils. The doctrine of pre-emption is indeed pervasive.

To all this there is a small dose of irony. Fradique de Menezes, who was brought home and put back in the saddle by Nigerian President Obasanjo after multilateral negotiations with the coup leaders, is a former cocoa trader. So is US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Walter Kansteiner ( [12] ).

Meanwhile, President Obasanjo has revealed that Nigeria will henceforth ‘protect’ STP through a joint military pact ( [13] ). US marines have disembarked and some of them are already ‘embedded’ (yes!) with the Nigerian military in Liberia ( [14] ), in operations which, to the apparent chagrin of the neocon Defense establishment, are seen by some as a dress rehearsal for further West African involvements of the humanitarian and nation-building variety.

All we are missing now is the Hollywood movie version. I can already see that great actor Cuba Gooding Jr. playing the new Top Gun: as he and his girl stroll along a palm-fringed equatorial beach in ‘that poor little place’ São Tomé, and the patrol boats and fighter jets roar off into the distance to fight the terrorists, the locals, as in Okinawa ( [15] ) and 63 (or is it 64?) other countries and places around the world, will dutifully service the employment-providing military base. But that’s a story for another time."

http://www.lewrockwell.com/wall/wall15.html