EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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09Oct04
Chad Criticizes Exxon-Led Consortium Over Oil Money.
Chad questioned on Friday the way in which revenues from its $4 billion Doba oil project are being shared and accused the Exxon Mobil-led consortium running it of failing to respect its contract with the government.
"Regarding the application of the contract, we have different views on what should be going to Chad in terms of the share of oil revenues," Oil Minister Youssouf Abassalah told reporters after a meeting with the president and other senior government officials.
"We would like public opinion to know how the oil has been sold, at what price and why. To all these questions we have not had sufficient answers," he said, adding Chad may seek international arbitration if no agreement was found.
Officials at Exxon Mobil in Chad's capital N'Djamena were not immediately available for comment. The other participants in the consortium are U.S. firm Chevron Texaco and Malaysian state energy company Petronas.
In a strongly-worded statement issued on Thursday, Chad said the consortium was selling its oil too cheaply and was not respecting the contract it signed with the government.
"The sale price is less than $20 (per barrel) at a time when the barrel is at $50 on international markets," the statement said.
"The good faith of the Chadian government and its readiness to fulfil the contract's clauses have been punctured by the consortium which only sees in this contract an opportunity to plunder Chad's resources," it said.
Chad, Africa's newest oil producer, said earlier this month it had pumped 38 million barrels of crude from the Doba project by the end of June, earning it an estimated $70 million.
It said it had so far received $32 million from the project out of a turnover of $900 million.
An international committee including the World Bank is monitoring how Chad spends the proceeds from the heavy oil project, which includes a 1,000 km (620 miles) pipeline to the Gulf of Guinea and is expected to earn the government $2 billion over 25 years.
The pipeline has been touted as a test case to show that petro-dollars can benefit the poor and the government's revenues from it have been earmarked for health, education and infrastructure projects.
[Source: By Betel Miarom, Reuters, 09Oct04]
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