Sao Tome News Site Tells President's Side Of Oil Controversy

The Tela Non Portuguese-language Website that serves Sao Tome and Principe as its daily newspaper tomorrow carries a substantial story for the first time reporting the stance of President Fradique de Menezes on the conflicts-of-interest issue that has mired the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Zone second licensing round block awards deep in political controversy.

It was one of two stories on the site explaining the presidents point of view, which has usually been obscured in angry thunderclouds of political rhetoric reported as news in the Sao Tome media.

The President, in a press conference aimed at quelling the fierce political infighting that has accompanied the unreleased awards document naming the winners of the Gulf of Guinea oil concessions, defended the role of Sao Tome diplomats on the Joint Ministerial Council by noting that the share of the blocks awarded under treaty obligations left to Sao Tome after ERHC's preferential options gave his negotiators very little bargaining power.

In the case of Block 2, he pointed out, where ERHC Energy has a 30 percent option, the 60:40 split set by the treaty leaves Sao Tome with just 10 percent of the leverage, while Nigerian-American ERHC Energy's option and the percentage controlled by Nigeria adds up to 90 percent.

The President said the country's share of the 11 to 14 billion barrels of oil believed to lie under the Joint Development Zone's control in the Gulf Of Guinea is "mortgaged" by the treaty establishing the Joint Development Zone, which was signed by the earlier presidential administration of President Miguel Trovoada. Trovoada's son Patrice until last Saturday was the country's top petroleum advisor, but was sacked by de Menezes for his conflict of interest and immediately began attacking his former boss.

Patrice Trovoada. the President explained, was sacked in a purge of Sao Tome representatives because he, like foreign minister and JMC negotiator Mateus Meira Rita, holds or held shares in oil companies that were bidding in the second round, "obviously" creating at least the appearance of a conflict of interest, he said.

Here is my personal translation (in boldface) of the first of two Tela Non stories today by Vladimir Antonio:

Fradique assegura que petróleo são-tomense está hipotecado

Freddy says Sao Tome's oil is 'mortgaged"
by Vladimir Antonio

O presidente, Fradique de Menezes, (na foto) desmentiu este fim de semana as acusações de falta de transparência, favorecimentos e jogos de interesses no processo petrolífero. Numa conferência de imprensa que visava esclarecer os contornos da polémica sobre o segundo leilão do petróleo, o chefe de estado afirmou que a polémica de hoje “deve-se a acordos mal rubricados no passado” com empresas petrolíferas hipotecando assim, o petróleo das ilhas.

The president, Fradique de Menezes, denied accusations this weekend of a lack of transparency, favoritism and conflicts of interest in the process of awarding blocks of oil to bidders in the second licensing round by the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Ministerial Council. He held a press conference to clarify the contorted controversy over the second round. The head of state charged that the present controversy was generated by "past agreements that were poorly written" with oil companies that had in essence acquired a mortgage on the island's oil.

“Tanto para o bloco 1 como para estes últimos, as decisões são tomadas por unanimidade, mas o problema surge por causa dos compromissos que nós assumimos antes até de eu ser presidente. Foi com assinatura disto que hipotecamos o nosso petróleo”, explicou Fradique de Menezes.

"From Block 1 to these most recent awards, the decisions by Sao Tome were unanimous, but also appear to be the result of compromises that were made before I became president. With those signatures we have written a mortgage on our oil," explained Fradique de Menezes.

O chefe de estado afirmou ainda que por via disso, São Tomé e Príncipe não tem voz perante a Nigéria para ditar o que quer que seja.

The head of state said that although that path was taken, Sao Tome and Principe did not have standing insofar as Nigeria was concerned to say what should or should not happen.

“Já nem podemos dizer nada, não podemos negociar nada porque por exemplo para o bloco 2, a Nigéria fica com 60 por cento, a empresa americana-nigeriana ERHC fica com 30 por cento, ou seja são 90 por cento para a Nigéria e nós ficamos apenas com 10 por cento para tomar uma decisão qualquer, daí que não podemos fazer nada uma vez estarem a maioria dos blocos na mão da Nigéria”, garantiu o presidente são-tomense.

"We don't have the power to say anything, nor the power to negotiate anything, because - for example, in Block 2 - Nigeria stays with 60 percent, the Nigerian-
American Firm ERHC stays with 30 percent, and we ebnd up with 10 percent to make any decision about; and, just so, we are given no power, and the majority of blocks are in the hands of Nigeria."

O chefe de estado reconheceu no entanto que a participação do seu director de gabinete, Mateus Meira Rita, no conselho ministerial conjunto representava um atropelo a lei uma vez ser sócio duma companhia petrolífera. Por isso mesmo, garantiu, que já o retirou das negociações.

The head of state recognized that in the instance of participation by a cabinet officer, Mateus Meira Rita, on the Joint Ministerial Council as a [Sao Tome] representative broke the law by having at one time been an official of an oil company. For this reason, obviously, he had to be removed from the negotiations.

Here is the second story from Tela Non, again with my translation in bold type:

Fradique exonera Conselheiro Especial do Petróleo

Freddy fires Special Counselor on Petroleum
by Vladimir Antonio

Por decreto presidencial, o presidente Fradique de Menezes demitiu este fim de semana, Patrice Trovoada (na foto), das funções de seu conselheiro especial para a área de petróleo, como resultado da polémica em torno do dossier petróleo.

By presidential decree submitted over the weekend, president Fradique de Menezes relieved Patrice Trovoada (in photo) of his duties as Special Counselor on Petroleum, which in turn ignited a controversy over the nation's oil portfolio.

Num comunicado lido por Ângelo Bonfim, porta-voz da presidência da república, o chefe de estado garante que tomou a decisão “porque de forma manifesta e notória o conselheiro especial do petróleo se foi servindo dessa função para levar a cabo as suas actividades privadas, tendo atingido uma situação aberta de conflito de interesses entre os dele e os do país”.

In a statement read by Angelo Bonfim, the president's press secretary, the head of state said he had taken the decision "because by clear evidence and notoriety the special counselor on petroleum served in this function in the cause of helping to elevate his private interests, and was complicit in an open conflict of interests, putting theirs ahead of those of the state."

Mas a decisão parece não incomodar Patrice Trovoada que continua a afirmar que existem nuvens no processo petrolífero de São Tomé e Príncipe.

But the decision did not seem to bother Patrice Trovoada, who continued to assert that there is a cloud over the process that surrounds the oil regime of Sao Tome and Principe.

“Eu considero que o processo tem algumas nuvens que é preciso aclarar como desfuncionamentos e outras situações pouco claras, mas existem todos os elementos para nós os corrigirmos”, assegurou Patrice Trovoada.

As for myself, I believe the process has a shadow cast over it, and this is precisely what I want to clarify, not only the failures and the other situations that are unclear but all the existing issues that have to be corrected," Patrice Trovoada stated.

Para o líder do partido Acção Democrática Independente, ADI, os problemas actuais não são consequência dos primeiros acordos assinados com as empresas petrolíferas ERHC e EXXON MOBIL, uma vez terem sido negociados em 2002. Acredita que o que falta sim é uma “matriz dos interesses nacionais”.

For the leader of the Independent Democratic Action party (IDA), the problems are actually not the consequence of the first agreements signed with the oil companies ERHC and ExxonMobil at the end of negotiations in 2002. He credits them instead to the lack of a "matrix of our national interest."

Outra das figuras que sentiu-se “tocado” pela última conferência de imprensa de Fradique de Menezes é o ex-ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros , Joaquim Rafael Branco, que não gostou de ver o seu nome envolvido na polémica.

Another figure who felt "taken" by the latest press conference of Fradique de Menezes was former minister of foreign affairs Joaquim Rafael Branco, who doesn't like that his name has become involved in the controversy.

Porque diz sentir-se orgulhoso dos acordos que rubricou sem que tenha tirado partido disso, Rafael Branco, desafia que se solicite “ a um organismo independente de credibilidade garantida que investigasse as contas bancárias de todos os envolvidos no dossier petróleo, antes de assumirem e a partir do momento em que assumiram funções oficiais”.

Because he feels proud of the written agreements that are being criticized, he is proposing that "an independent organization of guaranteed credibility examine the bank accounts of all those involved in the oil portfolio before and up to the moment that they assume their official duties."