Fafa Sanyang, minister of energy and petroleum, has reacted to African Petroleum’s decision to take its dispute with the Gambia Government to court.
According to reports, African Petroleum Corp, a Norwegian-listed company, said on Monday that it “plans to go to court to resolve its dispute with Gambia” government, after the government “stripped it of its rights” to explore for oil in two offshore areas.
Speaking yesterday in an interview with The Point, Energy minister Fafa Sanyang said this is the second time the petroleum company had threatened to sue The Gambia to court for extending their license.
The first threat to do so was in 2013, according to the minister.
“Our position is very clear: they did not fulfil their work obligation as agreed; their license expired in September last year, and they asked for an extension which was not approved,” the minister explained.
“It was agreed if they did not drill the blocks and there was no exploration their licence would not be renewed, and that was the case,” he added.
“We are not afraid about their threat to take us to court; we are on the right track,” he concluded.
Source: Point Newspaper
