The
Government of The Gambia has announced that offshore blocks A1, A3, A4 and A6
are open for licensing.
Speaking
to journalists at a press briefing yesterday morning, presidential spokesperson
Amie Bojang-Sissoho said the previous license holder of blocks A1 and A4 that
have expired are among those open to all.
“The
new administration has not issued any license for petroleum exploration or
production. The existing licensee are FAR and Erin for Blocks A2 and A5. No
other license has been issued so far,” she said.
African
Petroleum previously explored blocks A1 and A4.
Government
has maintained that it has no legal duty towards African Petroleum. Information
Minister Mr Demba Jawo said their license has not been renewed, which means
that they have no contract with the Government of The Gambia.
“Renewal
or otherwise of their license will depend on the energy needs of the country.
But the government has not made any decision about renewing it for now,” he
said in July.
Shares
in the Oslo-listed African Petroleum plunged some 40 per cent that month when
news about their contract ending with The Gambia was public. Minister of
Petroleum Fafa Sanyang confirmed that The Gambia had ended talks to extend
exploration rights for two offshore areas.
African
Petroleum said in a statement it was “surprised and disappointed” by comments
from Gambian officials, reiterating its position that it still holds the rights
to the licenses and vowing to defend them. In July, their CEO flew into Banjul
to renegotiate their license renewal with government without success.