Guys , this is a must read. I’ll skin through it , but it...

Guys , this is a must read. I’ll skin through it , but it explains a thing or two on the delays and how smart and connected Timis is in Africa and why AP got their current licenses.

Karim Wade awarded the Rufisque Deep Offshore and Senegal South Deep licenses to the Australian firm African Petroleum Corp headed by Frank Timis. AP only had to negotiate for a few months to win the blocks , whereas companies like Tullow Oil have been bogged down in negotiations for over a year with the Senegalese authorities, to no effect whatsoever.

Wade, has refused to deliver new acreage until such time as the country adopts a fresh oil code. The code’s regulations are still being drafted.

African Petroleum Corp had an edge over the others. Its new adviser is none other than Djibril Amadou Kanoute who was boss of the national oil company, Petrosen, until this June. The Australian firm hired him only a few weeks after he was pushed into retirement. The former Petrosen boss happens to be a prominent member of president Abdoulaye Wade’s ruling Parti Democratique Senegalais (PDS).

African Petroleum Corp has begun talks with Guinea’s government to operate block A4 in that country’s offshore.

I really don’t know if to cry or jump with joy here. It would seem AP would’ve got our blocks on their current license. Djibril Amadou has dealt with ME for 5 years and lets hope this spins in our direction. Whatever the case , things will obviously get moving now. One things obvious, AP are going in strong and have the political support to get them what they want.