“Canadian oil company wants removal sanctions from ‘stable Sudan'”
Radio Dabanga, 1 December 2013 / https://www.radiodabanga.org/node/60523
The Canadian oil company, Statesman Resources [http://www.statesmanresources.com/], wants removal of the sanctions against Sudan since the country has become a stable regional player “in light of the recent political unrest and instability in Libya and Egypt.” The Canadian company blames “only international politics” for “preventing the development of the country.”
In an interview with the Geopoliticalmonitor, the CEO Glenn Whiddon, does not mention the ongoing civil war in Darfur with almost daily bombings having killed at least 300,000 people according to UN estimates. He is neither mentioning that the head of stead, Omar al Bashir has been indicted for war crimes including genocide and the quelling of large demonstrations in Khartoum killing over 200 protesters. Another Canadian company, Talisman, was prevented from further investment in Sudan due to pressure from the Canadian civil society.
Whiddon believes that “ten years from now Sudan will be trading freely with the world and enjoying unprecedented economic growth and human capital development.” Statesman Resources Limited is an onshore oil and gas exploration company focused on the African continent. It successfully bid for Sudan’s Block 14, a 100,000 km2 oil exploration area in the northwest corner of the country, bordering both Egypt and Libya. It is a minority partner (37%) with Sudapet (Sudan state company).
That Statesman claims it has identified “a prospective resource of 1.5 billion barrels.” Whiddon expects a bright future, or Sudan, with a large area of the Red Sea only lightly explored at present and which could be the site of “huge reserves of gas for LNG projects.” But the CEO experienced that “The current sanctions against Sudan have severely limited the number of participants and amount of foreign direct investment in Sudan. Removing the sanctions would make a material difference to the growth of the domestic economy and bring stability to the economy and prosperity to the country and the people.”
The oil-investor says: “An open arms policy would bring Sudan closer to the West politically and economically, and enable the West to influence Sudan over human rights and other humanitarian issues.”
After the secession of South Sudan taking away 60% of the national oil reserves, Whiddon knows that “the central government of Sudan is very keen to find oil in the north of the country.” He found “doing business in Sudan to be extremely professional and industry-competitive. The knowledge and experience of the various officials in the government and Sudapet is extensive.”
Block 14 positioned in North Sudan
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Statesman Resources may be contacted at: http://www.statesmanresources.com/contact.php
Statesman Resources is a very small, “buccaneering” oil and gas company trying to make a go with this cynical and morally outrageous gamble. CEO Glenn Whiddon’s comments on the “stability” of Sudan echo those of another Canadian oil company CEO, Jim Buckee of Talisman Energy.
Notably, share price for Statesman Resources is currently a miniscule US$0.02. It clearly has no significant capital reserves and is willing to make a deal with any devil, so long as longshot oil profits may be involved.