JMC Meeting 'Still Scheduled' For Weekend, Guardian Says In New Article

Contradicting other reports, the Guardian of Nigeria said today that the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Ministerial Council meeting Sao Tome asked to delay is "still scheduled" after Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes "allayed fears" that his nation would lose $58 million if the Production Sharing Contracts for the five blocks of the Second Licensing Round are signed.

Much of the Guardian's reporting is days old, however, and the newspaper may have been unaware when they lifted this story with the identical "still scheduled" phrase from Platts that Sao Tome has asked for a postponement, first of one week and then until mid-February. Nonetheless, its appearance this afternoon after a report circulated that Nigeria was prepared to announce it was dissolving the JDZ treaty suggests that the newspaper is communicating the government's official position on the matter. Nigeria has not yet formally agreed to a delay.

Here is the Guardian's story, from its "Breaking News" digest:

Nigeria, Sao Tome set to sign JDZ oil contracts

Nigeria and Sao Tome may finally sign the contracts for oil blocks awarded in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) last month under the second licensing round, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru has said. Sao Tome and Principe's president Frandique de Menezes had earlier this week allayed fears that his country would lose U.S. $58 million, if the second licensing round at the JDZ should proceeds

A joint ministerial council meeting of the Joint Development Authority (JDA) set up to administer the licensing exercise is still scheduled for this weekend, where a signing date is expected to be announced, despite the resignation of Sao Tome's Foreign Minister, Ovido Pequeno. Pequeno stepped down as Foreign Minister for Sao Tome on Monday, after president Menezes refused to fire him in the face of criticisms from the centre-left MLSTP party, which alleged that he embezzled $500,000 Moroccan aid.

Update, 11:09pm EST, 1/19/06: In Friday's editions, the Guardian runs an expanded version of the same story, again saying the weekend JMC talks are "still cheduled":

Nigeria, Sao Tome set to sign JDZ oil contracts
By Sulaimon Salau
NIGERIA and Sao Tome may finally sign the contracts for oil blocks awarded in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) last month under the second licensing round, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru has said.

"We would have liked to have signed the contract December 10, last year, but any time from now, we expect to sign it," Dankoru said in a media chat.

Sao Tome and Pincipe's president Frandique de Menezes had earlier this week allayed fears that his country would lose U.S. $58 million, if the second licensing round at the JDZ should proceeds

A joint ministerial council meeting of the Joint Development Authority (JDA) set up to administer the licensing exercise is still scheduled for this weekend, where a signing date is expected to be announced, despite the resignation of Sao Tome's Foreign Minister, Ovido Pequeno.

Pequeno stepped down as Foreign Minister for Sao Tome an Monday, after president Menezes refused to fire him in the face of criticisms from the centre-left MLSTP party which alleged that he embezzled $500,000 allocated from Moroccan aid.

The government of Sao Tome also condemned the award of part of the oil blocks to ERHC last year, claiming that the company had no experience at oil exploration and lacked sufficient financial resources to implement the project. This he noted had damaged the interest of the country, while official investigation into the matter was described as 'incomplete'.

A report earlier release by the country said "several of the companies awarded blocks lacked the technical know-how and financial muscle to carry out the project and that procedures used to select the companies did not satisfy minimum standard.

ERHC was awarded control at two of the five oil blocks in the JDZ with another company and gained significant shares in the other three blocks.

Besides, the award of the blocks followed an approval granted by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Fradique de Menezet of Sao Tome on May 31st 2005, based on the recommendations of the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) which was made up of representatives at the two countries.

ERHC had earlier alerted the Nigerian government that actions by the Republic at Sao Tome was set at undermining the treaty governing the JDZ. It however alleged that "the criticism against the 2005 licensing round was part of the underground campaign target at Nigeria."