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MAURITANIA
Woodside resolves offshore oil row with Mauritania
Posted Mon, 03 Apr 2006
Nouakchott - The Mauritanian government says it has resolved a dispute over offshore oil projects with Australia's Woodside Petroleum, in which the west African nation will be paid a "bonus" of $100mn.
The dispute concerned amendments to four offshore production sharing contracts run by Woodside Mauritania, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Australian-listed firm, in conjunction with the joint venture partners.
Woodside chief executive Don Voelte said on Friday the agreement laid the foundation for good relations between the company and Mauritanian authorities.
"The Mauritanian government has worked constructively with Woodside to resolve differences between the parties," he said.
Woodside said details of the deal were covered by a confidentiality agreement.
However, Mauritania's prime minister, Mohamed Ould Boubacar, announced that Woodside would pay a $100mn "bonus" to the government within 14 days of signing of the agreement on March 25, according to the official AMI Mauritanian press agency.
The money provided the government with an early revenue stream from the recently-commissioned and Woodside-managed Chinguetti offshore oil field, where otherwise there would have been a delay in any benefits, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Ould Boubacar also said that the government and Woodside "would collaborate" on protecting the local environment with an annual one-million-dollar environmental bond "provided by the Australian oil company", he said.
The disputed amendments were negotiated by Woodside with ex-president Maaouiya Ould Taya, who was ousted in a military coup in August 2005.
A technocratic civilian government installed by junta leader Ely Mohamed Ould Vall argued the amendments were illegal and would cost the country millions of dollars in reduced oil revenues over the next decade.
On Thursday, Ould Vall announced that the government was dropping its litigation against Woodside.
"The two parties have reached a mutual agreement that replaces the initial contracts" on sharing oil production with one "that is better for the national interest", the junta chief said.
The agreement allowed for the release of Mauritania's ex-oil minister Zeidane Ould Hmeida, who had been detained in January and accused of economic crimes for signing the disputed amendments to the Woodside deal, his lawyers said on Friday.
Desperately poor Mauritania last month became Africa's newest oil producer and hopes to boost its economic growth by up to 20 percent from the oil revenue.
The first shipment of 950 000 barrels of oil from Chinguetti set off for China last week, and a similar shipment is due to leave at the weekend.
The country sits on some one billion barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas, according to government estimates.
Woodside's joint venture partners include Australian companies Hardman Resources and Roc Oil, as well as British firms BG Group, Premier Oil, Dana Petroleum and Fusion Oil and Gas.
Other venture partners are Malaysia's Petronas, Energy Africa and the Mauritanian government. -AFP
http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/west_africa/162299.htm
HDR
hardman resources limited
