By Hon. Mama Kandeh
I write in my capacity as leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress, but most important as a concerned citizen over our oil we are yet to get a clear answer on its drilling.
The GDC Welcomes the news of oil possibilities in The Gambia, however, a lot has been said over the years about the oil prospects in The Gambia.
We learned that energy group BP has exited from The Gambia, relinquishing its stake in Block A1 after it agreed to pay the government for suspending drilling at the license, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said August 12th.
BP relinquished its stakes in offshore oil block A1, which was supposed to contain 1 billion barrels, paid off D1.5 billion to the government as part of its contractual obligations as per the licensing agreement, and exited the country.
It doesn’t sound logical that BP will obtain a licence for block A1 well only to quit ‘due to low carbon energy’ for such a reason. BP is said to pay all its obligations to the government. A1 is said to contain 1 billion barrels of oil. How come BP didn’t know the facts before signing a contract with the government for the block? What happened to the other offshore oil blocks identified A2, A3, A4, 5 etc.
The oil issues have raised more questions than answers due to no transparency from the government, most especially the Ministry of Energy. Senegal is exploring theirs and ours is characterized with a lot of unmatched stories.
The GDC would welcome full detail of our oil prospect and disclosure of all efforts and transactions of the exploration.
We have realized many new forge relationships with the Gambia government, which might be backed by their interest over the news of oil possibilities in The Gambia.
We are yet to get clear answers on the contents of the government Press Release on the oil contract with BP and other related issue on the overall oil prospecting and licensing of foreign energy company over the years. We would demand information as the state issued a licence to African Petroleum Company and later was revoked by the government. We believe it must have legal implications, and we expect an explanation on this matter.
Gambians are asking why such an announcement now by the government and BP oil arrangement when Gambians were never informed in the first instance, about the licensing agreement between government and BP, and its terms and conditions. For a very long time, there have been talks about a lucrative oil portion in our waters, very near to where our neighbouring country discovered their offshore oil resources.
Furthermore, we demand from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, details of all the oil companies that visited the country and were involved in our oil prospect before BP’s engagement into the business.
We challenge the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to provide full details surrounding our oil prospect and the country’s offshore oil resources.
Hon. Mamma Kandeh
GDC Party Leader and Secretary General
PRESS RELEASE -14TH AUGUST, 2024