On 15 June, the government-managed National Hydrocarbons
Corporation (SNH) awarded its first petroleum exploration contract on the
previously contested Bakassi peninsula. The production-sharing contract for
Bakassi West was awarded to a consortium led by Dana Petroleum
(a subsidiary of the Korean National Oil Company), which heads a consortium of
four firms.
The four-year agreement, worth US$31 million and could be
extended by a further two-year period to increase to the tune of US$71 million,
will be operated by Dana, with equity interests held by Canada's Madison
Petrogas and Cameroon's Soft Oil & Gas Ltd.
The ceremony was overseen by Cameroon's Minister of Mines,
Industry and Technological Development Emmanuel Bonde, while
the accord was signed for Cameroon by the Executive Manager of SNH
Adolphe Moudiki and Dana's country manager John William
Downey.
The contract authorises the consortium to acquire, process and
interpret seismic 2D data and the drilling of two exploration wells.
Thought to be rich in oil, Bakassi was under Nigerian control
for at least 15 years until 2008, when the peninsula was returned to Cameroon
following an October 2002 ruling by the International Court of Justice. Although
Nigeria has accepted the ruling, the area has faced pockets of resistance from
armed splinter groups undermining Cameroon's authority there.
The groups have severally captured Cameroon troops and
foreigners operating in Bakassi, urging Cameroon and governments of the captives
to pay ransom. In 2010, Cameroon fortified the area with the anti-terrorist
Rapid Intervention Battalion, causing a reduction in the groups' activities.
Operating under the moniker Bakassi Freedom Fighters (BFF), the
groups have not been entirely deterred, however, and made their last attack in
October 2011, killing two Cameroonian soldiers.
For more news and expert analysis about Cameroo, please see Cameroon Politics &
Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates
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