Titre : Woodside Seeks Reassurance After Mauritania Coup Date : 04/08/2005 à 09:29:51
Thursday August 4, 10:53 AM
UPDATE: Woodside Seeks Reassurance After Mauritania
Coup
By Stephen Bell
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
PERTH (Dow Jones)--Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
(WPL.AU) said Thursday it plans to contact the leaders
of a military junta that has overthrown Mauritania's
government.
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The company will be "engaging with" the Military
Council for Justice and Democracy, a Woodside
spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. The talks at this
stage will be limited to "safety and operational
matters," he said.
Woodside cautioned that "no meeting has officially
been scheduled" with the council, which overthrew
Mauritania's U.S.-allied president Maaoya Sid'Ahmed
Ould Taya while he was abroad Wednesday.
The council has named national police chief Col. Ely
Ould Mohamed Vall as the country's new leader.
Woodside's 450 staff and contractors in Mauritania -
located both onshore and offshore - have all been
accounted for and are safe, the spokesman added.
"Drilling operations have continued after a short
delay when the port was closed," he said.
The Stena Tay rig is in the final stages of completing
a well suspension, while the West Navigator is
installing a development well.
Woodside believes the situation on the ground will
become clearer when day breaks in around four hours.
The coup has prompted a share sell-off in Woodside's
minority partners in Mauritania, including Hardman
Resources Ltd. (HDR.AU) and Roc Oil Co. (ROC.AU).
After slumping as much as 10%, Hardman shares
recovered slightly and were down 5.2% at 0245 GMT. Roc
shares were down 2.9%, while Woodside shares were down
0.5%.
One dealer said investors are worried about the
policies of the new regime.
"It's a bit early to say, but this new government is
more in tune with the Islamic population so it's
possible the new guys won't be as friendly to western
investment values," the dealer said.
In an overnight statement, the council said it was
committed to "respect all treaties and international
conventions ratified by Mauritania."
Meanwhile, the Australian government has advised its
citizens to defer all travel to the west African
nation.
"There have been reports of a coup in the capital,
Nouakchott, on Aug. 3, 2005, and the situation remains
uncertain," Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade said.
"Australians in Mauritania should exercise extreme
caution and stay indoors and monitor media reports,"
it added.
Woodside is the operator of the offshore Chinguetti
field, estimated to have up to 100 million barrels. It
also operates the Tiof field, which may contain up to
400 million barrels of recoverable oil.
The US$625 million Chinguetti development is due to
start producing oil in the first quarter of next year
at an initial rate of 75,000 barrels per day.
Woodside was also due to begin a major exploration
program this month initially targeting the Sotto
prospect, which broker UBS estimates holds 150-250
million barrels of oil.
Sotto-1 is the first of a proposed six well program
this year that includes the Colin and Espadon
prospects.
Woodside owns 47.4% of Chinguetti. The other
participants are Hardman with 19%, the Mauritanian
government with 12%, U.K.-based BG Group PLC (BRG)
with 10.2%, Premier Oil PLC (PMO.LN) with 8.1% and Roc
with 3.3%.