Tullow may act over Congo oil rights

THE Dublin and London listed-Tullow Oil is considering legal action to establish is ownership of oil rights in the Congo.

Tullow is likely to take action after two companies owned by South African President Jacob Zuma’s nephew are due to start oil exploration on two oil blocks formerly leased by Tullow in 2012 in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Those blocks were previously contracted to Tullow Oil, which was founded in Ireland in the mid-1980s to search for oil in Senegal, north Africa.

Expressing its concern over the developments in the Congo, the group said “no legitimate company will farm into blocks with an unknown British Virgin Island (BVI) company so we fail to see how these blocks are going to be developed for the benefit of the people of DRC”.

“Without transparency and the sanctity of contracts it is very difficult to attract legitimate investment that will benefit the general population rather than the few,” it said.

It added: “We are reviewing our options but have no doubt about the legal validity of our claims to these blocks,” said the group, which relocated its headquarters from Dublin to London a few years back.

Congo awarded blocks 1 and 2 in Lake Albert to Caprikat Ltd and Foxwhelp Ltd, registered in the BVI, which are owned by Khulubuse Zuma, according to a presidential decree published in Congo’s Journal Officiel on June 22.

Zuma is chairman of Aurora Empowerment Systems Ltd, which is buying two gold mines in South Africa from Pamodzi Gold Ltd. The companies will begin exploration in 19 months, Giuseppe Ciccarelli, executive director of Switzerland-based Medea Development and Zuma’s technical advisor, said.

additional reporting Bloomberg