tullow oil ugandan drilling camps face evict..

Not intended to alarm but some food for thought about being sensitive to the local population. Does anyone know how close GBP and Tower are to the camps mentioned and/or the reserve mentioned?

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100112-711417.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesEurope

UPDATE: Tullow Oil Ugandan Drilling Camps Face Eviction
January 12, 2010 12:55pm

(Updates with more detail, background)


By Nicholas Bariyo
Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


KAMPALA, Uganda (Dow Jones)-- Uganda's state wildlife body, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, has accused workers contracted by Tullow Oil PLC's (TLW.LN) Ugandan operations of poaching and will seek to evict the company's exploration camps from the Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve, its spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The company's contract workers have been implicated in numerous incidents, the latest one being the killing of one of the last male reedbucks--a type of antelope at risk of being wiped out in Uganda--in the reserve in the Albertine Rift, the spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

The eviction threat looms as Tullow seeks to establish a longtime, expanded presence in Uganda through a local listing of shares for its Ugandan unit and a move to take over more exploration blocks. Such a move could slow Tullow's efforts to find oil in the area.

Police have arrested six workers in connection with the poaching incident. The arrested workers have since appeared in court and are now on remand in the Hoima government prison, said Zura Ganyana, the police spokeswoman in the region.

"We shall not allow them to camp in the wildlife reserve again because this is not the first incident," the wildlife reserve's spokeswoman said.

Tullow Oil Uganda Operations, a unit of U.K.-based Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN), operates a block that straddles the wildlife reserve. More than half of the exploration block is located in the park, according to maps provided by Uganda's Petroleum Exploration and Production department.

Officials said the male antelope, which had just been released into the reserve for breeding, was killed by workers of Busitema Mining Services, a company contracted by Tullow Oil. It was not possible to reach officials at Busitema for comment.

Wildlife officials said they now plan to compel Tullow Oil and its contractors to set camp outside the game reserves to avoid endangering animals.

Company officials, however, have said that setting camps outside the reserves could slow exploration activities. Tullow Oil has only two years to complete appraisals in the exploration area, which is approximately 45 kilometers wide.

Tullow said that neither the Ugandan government nor the wildlife authorities have informed the company that there will be a change in the structure of their operations in the Kabwoya area.

"Despite this being an isolated event, we regret any incident of poaching and would stress that Tullow has a strong relationship with the UWA central management and their wardens in Kabwoya Wildlife reserve and we are working with them currently to minimise the threat of poaching," the company said in a statement.

Activists had earlier warned the Ugandan government against the dangers of approving drilling in the protected area, according to Dickens Kamugisha, the chief executive of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance.

"Government seems interested only in oil exploration and is not bothered to what happens to other sectors like tourism and agriculture," he said.

Tullow company officials said that plans are under way to maintain a permanent presence in Uganda for the next 20-30 years. The company is expected to this week exercise its preemptive rights to the share in two Ugandan exploration blocks owned by Heritage Oil PLC (HOIL.LN), following a proposed $1.5 billion takeover for those assets by Italy-based Eni SpA (E).

Tullow's plans also include a cross-listing of shares on the local bourse, while the company is also set to start developing a gas-fired thermal plant in western Uganda this year, and commence oil production next year.

Tullow Oil also wants to bring on board a bigger company to help it develop Uganda's oil fields.

The Ugandan government is expected to make its decision on the Heritage deal later this month. People familiar with the matter have said the Ugandan cabinet remains divided on whether Eni or Tullow should take over the exploration blocks.



-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +256 75-262 4615; [email protected]



(James Herron in London contributed to this item)