A senior Sierra Leonean oil official says that oil company Prontinal Limited met its exploration obligations on an oil block now operated by Canada-based Talisman Energy.
The comments [last] week by Adekunle King, the legal officer of the West African state's Petroleum Directorate, contradict a previous statement made in June by the then acting director general of the directorate, Raymond Kargbo.
Kargbo had said in June that Talisman took over a majority stake in the block after Prontinal had failed to proceed with exploration.
Prontinal Limited has rejected the assertion that it failed to meet its obligations and Reuters sought clarification from Sierra Leone's oil authorities.
The counsel for Prontinal provided Reuters with copies of addendums to the agreement between Sierra Leone and Talisman which stated that Prontinal had "duly fulfilled the work obligation and all other obligations under the Agreement."
The addendums said Talisman took over an 80 percent stake in the block following a May 2011 accord between it and Prontinal. The addendums were ratified by Sierra Leone's parliament in June.
"The addendums certified by parliament are very clear on that ... if there are any outstanding obligations unfulfilled then those addendums wouldn't have been ratified by parliament," King, from Sierra Leone's Petroleum Directorate, told Reuters by telephone.
Talisman said in June it had taken an 80 percent stake as operator in offshore block SL-4B-10, with previous owner Prontinal retaining 20 percent.
A spokeswoman for Talisman said the company was concentrating on the commitments of its contract and expected to spud the first well, Djembe-1, in the third quarter of 2012.
Prior work commitments were "a matter for Prontinal and the Petroleum Directorate", spokeswoman Phoebe Buckland said.
West Africa has enjoyed a surge in oil exploration since 2007 when Tullow Oil found the Jubilee field in Ghana, but it remains to be seen whether Sierra Leone, still recovering from a war that ended in 2002, has commercial quantities. – Reuters
