Lusa: 'We Have All Erred,' Says Trovoada

Sounding more like someone at the end of a fight than at the beginning, Patrice Trovoada, the recently dismissed special counselor on petroleum to Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes admits "We all erred," and called for "a better deal" for Sao Tome in the second round of block awards from the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority, which he said has made its decisions based on "competing political interests."



This is the decree firing Special Counselor on Petroleum Patrice Trovoada last Saturday. To view the document in Windows XP, right click on the document and select "Open Link in New Window."

Here is that story, from Lusa's English-lanhuage site:

Sao Tome: Oil blocks award process needs 'correction', says ousted Trovoada
11-05-2005 12:55:00.
Fonte LUSA.
Notícia SIR-6990470
Temas:

Sao Tome, May 11 (Lusa) - Sao Tome and Principe's sacked presidential oil adviser says "we all erred" in the stalled process of awarding oil exploration blocks in an offshore zone shared with Nigeria and that the process should be revisited to get "a better deal" for the archipelago.

Patrice Trovoada, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, three days after President Fradique de Meneses dismissed him, criticized the bilateral Joint Development Authority (JDA) that oversees the awarding of five blocks in the latest licensing round.

The JDA, he said, should take decisions based on technical data, rather than in consideration of the political interests competing foreign oil companies.

"We have all erred, but we must make corrections to move forward and stop making noises", said Trovoada, who leads the AID party, the junior partner in the islands+ governing coalition.

He called for "a climate of peace and understanding", especially with Nigeria, in order for the archipelago to obtain "a better deal" under the 2001 bilateral treaty that splits revenues from the Gulf of Guinea Joint Development Zone 60:40 in Abuja's favor.

De Menezes, who earlier appeared ready to sign off on an awards scheme approved by the senior Joint Ministerial Council in Abuja in late April, fired Trovoada Saturday as his oil adviser, charging he had used his post to promote his own business interests.

The long delayed awarding of five exploration blocks now appears again bogged down by political infighting, pitting the president against the governing parties, ADI and the senior MLSTP.

The MLSTP of Prime Minister Damiao Vaz de Almeida accused de Menezes earlier this week of seeking personal gain in the process and of possibly holding shares in one of the competing companies, the US- headquartered, but majority Nigerian controlled, ERHC-Energy.

RCN/SAS.

Lusa
http://www.lusa.pt/service.asp?service_id=Serviço%20LusaNews