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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Sep 02 2010 - 14:05:56 EDT
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE6811W820100902
INTERVIEW-Ethiopia denies rebels chased oil, gas firms away
Thu Sep 2, 2010 5:36pm GMT
Petronas has not pulled out of Ethiopia, minister says
* Govt negotiating deals with three more oil and gas firms
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Rebel claims that Malaysia's Petronas
has stopped oil and gas exploration in Ethiopia are lies and three
more firms are in negotiations to start exploration in the country,
its mines minister said on Thursday.
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) separatists and local media
said state-owned Petronas had pulled out of the Horn of Africa nation
after a gas field it was exploring was overrun by the militants in
May.
"The rebels took no gas field," Mines and Energy Minister, Alemayehu
Tegenu, told Reuters in an interview. "That didn't happen. Petronas
have not ceased operations. They have just suspended work to evaluate
their portfolio."
Petronas have yet to comment on the reports.
The ONLF is fighting for independence for the mainly ethnic-Somali
Ogaden and has warned international oil and gas companies to stay away
or face attack.
Firms including Petronas and the Vancouver-based Africa Oil
Corporation are exploring the Ogaden for potential oil and gas
reserves. Twelve foreign mineral firms are exploring Ethiopia for
deposits.
Apart from a small discovery of natural gas, which Petronas has signed
a $1.9 million deal to extract, Ethiopia has not uncovered significant
oil or gas deposits.
The government says the Ogaden basin may contain gas reserves of 4
trillion cubic feet and points to oil-producing neighbours such as
Sudan and Yemen as evidence there could be major oil deposits under
Ethiopia's vast deserts.
Alemayehu said Ethiopia was secure and the government was negotiating
new exploration licenses with three foreign firms. He did not name
them.
'OUR MILITARY IS IN CONTROL'
"We have no complaints from companies exploring here about our
security," the minister said. "We have secured them. Our military is
in control."
Alemayehu also said peace negotiations with one faction of the ONLF
were at an advanced stage. ONLF spokesmen have denied a deal is
imminent.
The Ethiopian government has reported some skirmishes with the rebels
in the past six months, but regular accusations from both sides are
hard to verify. Journalists and aid groups cannot move in the area
without government escorts.
Ethiopian forces launched an assault against the ONLF -- who have been
fighting for more than 20 years -- after a 2007 attack on an oil
exploration field owned by a subsidiary of China's Sinopec Corp,
Asia's biggest refiner.
"Since that attack, we have secured the area," Alemayehu said.
A British geologist was shot dead in the Ogaden last July while
working for IMC Geophysics International, subcontracted to Petronas.
The ONLF denied involvement and the government said 'bandits' were
responsible.
Analysts say the rebels are incapable of ousting the government but
can hamper development and weaken security forces in the Ogaden with
hit-and-run attacks. (Editing by George Obulutsa and James Jukwey)
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