Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Liberia Nears Oil Find: European Hydrocarbons to Drill Offshore March 2011

Source: FrontPage Africa

Monrovia -


African Petroleum has announced plans to drill in the deep offshore waters of Liberia, nearest the coastal boundaries of Sinoe and Rivercess. The geologists in African Petroleum are very excited by the possibility of finding oil and are finalizing plans with the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) to start drilling in March 2011.

It has been more than 30 years since oil companies searched for oil in this region, but the recent discovery of a major oil field in the deep waters offshore Ghana, and the discovery of oil offshore in nearby Sierra Leone, has encouraged the geologists in African Petroleum to look closely at the possibility of finding oil in Liberia. Working jointly with NOCAL, the African Petroleum exploration team believe that they have identified the same type of oil bearing rocks found in neighboring Sierra Leone following the 3D seismic programme on its offshore Blocks 8 & 9. African Petroleum has completed very detailed and extensive seismic surveys costing US $25 million to study the potential of the rocks beneath the deep waters offshore Liberia.

The results are so encouraging that plans are being finalized to bring a large floating drilling rig to the area to drill two wells more than 30 miles off the coast. These wells will cost African Petroleum more than US $100 million and will be the first wells ever drilled in the deeper waters off the Liberian coast. The African Petroleum team based in Monrovia are working hard to prepare for the arrival of the drilling rig and are in discussions with NOCAL as well as other government ministries to co-ordinate their plans. The complexity of this project demands planning, review and agreement with NOCAL and government ministries to ensure that the highest standards of safety are maintained for everyone involved, and also ensure the protection of the environment. African Petroleum’s drilling team have managed the drilling of offshore exploration wells for more than 10 years, with a first class track record for safety and protecting the environment.

African Petroleum through its subsidiary European Hydrocarbons has been preparing to explore for oil in Liberia for a number of years.

The company’s Chairman Mr. Frank Timis and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Karl Thompson, a former geologist with Chevron agree that the promising geology, in addition to the encouragement and support from NOCAL, have made the planned initial investment of more than US $130 million in Liberia a great opportunity for their company. However, overall investment would exceed over 2.5 billion. They are working to ensure that African Petroleum is at the forefront of this new and exciting opportunity. The discovery of oil in Liberia, and the development of supportive industries will create wealth for the country and thousands of jobs for Liberians.

In addition to their investments in oil and gas exploration, African Petroleum and NOCAL are committed to providing annual social welfare and training funding. Doing so, allows for local communities to benefit from petroleum operations in the short run. It also demonstrates their support for the development efforts pursued by the Government of Liberia.

To ensure knowledge transfer within the industry, African Petroleum and NOCAL make annual contributions to the University of Liberia. Together, the two companies sponsored a 10-day seminar on Seismic Interpretation for 60 students of the Department of Geology at the University of Liberia, this past July. The course was designed for students to interactively learn the fundamentals of offshore seismic data acquisition and processing, design structural maps from 2D seismic data; and make seismostratigraphic interpretations to evaluate the presence of reservoirs and seals offshore Liberia. Senior representatives from African Petroleum and NOCAL, along with senior staff from the University of Liberia were also present to discuss the potential and opportunities within the offshore oil and gas industry. This training is part of a larger strategy to invest in human capital and make sure that Liberians gain the technical capacity to manage the emerging industry.

Poised to become one of the largest net acreage holders along the coast of West Africa, African Petroleum works closely with national partners like NOCAL to deliver safe, highly technical and well financed oil and gas projects.

News Headline

Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah

Everyone is a genius

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein

Drawing the line in Liberia

Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah



Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause

They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.

If Liberia must move forward ...

If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's greatest problem!

While it is true that an individual may be held responsible for corruption and mismanagement of funds in government, the lack of proper system to work with may as well impede the process of ethical, managerial, and financial accountability - Bernard Gbayee Goah

What do I think should be done?

The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Solving problems in the absence of war talks

As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah

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