Oil awards to foreign firms harm Sao Tome’s interests 11-01-06 Sao Tome and Principe's President Fradique de Menezes has said that offshore oil blocks awards to the ERHC oil company last year have damaged the interests of the country and an official investigation into the matter was "incomplete". De Menezes said that Sao Tome stands to lose $ 58 mm if the second licensing round in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) shared with Nigeria goes ahead.
Under the terms of awards for the five JDZ block announced in May 2005, ERHC, a US-registered but Nigerian-controlled oil firm, was given control of two blocks, in partnership with other companies, and gained significant interest in the remaining three blocks. President de Menezes said it was still not known who had signed the original preferential agreement with ERHC in 2001, in reference to former prime minister Guilherme Posser da Costa and ex-president Miguel Trovoada.
Menezes criticized the report by Sao Tome's Attorney General's office as being "incomplete", as there had been no questioning of Nigerian officials. An initial accord signed with ERHC in 1997 which was re-signed in 2001 "is the biggest assault on the possessions of the Sao Tome people since their independence", added de Menezes. The president also criticized claims by the Attorney General's office that it had not been possible "to find documentary evidence to ascertain whether the allocation of shares and the second licensing round was marred by conflicts of interest and political favouritism."
State prosecutors in Sao Tome launched an investigation last September and issued a report in December fingering ERHC as possibly having made irregular payments or given benefits to Sao Tome officials ahead of the JDZ awards. The awards were "seriously flawed" and harmed the interests of the Gulf of Guinea archipelago, said the official probe. Production sharing contracts for the five blocks were due to have been signed at the end of 2005, but have been delayed due to the unfolding allegations of wrongdoing by as yet unidentified officials.
Signature bonuses for the five JDZ blocks would amount to $ 400 mm, to be split 60:40 in Nigeria's favour. An earlier licensing round in the JDZ awarded one offshore block to Chevron in partnership with ExxonMobil.
It seems like prior to 1999 that Noreen Wilson was the key player for ERHC, then from 1999 to 2001 it was Geoffrey Tirman of Capital Talisman, and then from 2001 the key player was Sir Emeka Offor. The big question would be the target of any investigation. Is it individuals or the corporation? It does seem logical to include William Jefferson in the mess, knowing that Noreen Wilson paid for his trip and a couple officials were given 'scholarships' to the Univ. of LA., which is hardly something ERHC could swing on it's own?
"Conjecture is fine but facts can differ from conjecture."
They sure can.
In the sentence prior to the above you said:
"Now with big oil in the picture I would imagine many want ERHE out of the picture."
That is pure conjecture on your part. People employed by the major oil companies on these boards think "big oil" theories are rediculous. There is exactly no evidence, since the PSCs were signed, that "big oil" is after us.
Wild speculation seems to be the order of the day.
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