La compagnie Irlandaise San Leon et son partenaire britannique Longreach poursuivent leur recherche illégale de pétrole au Sahara Occidental. L'ONU a déclaré que ces activités sont effectuées en violation du droit international.

Dans le cadre de leurs enquêtes géologiques du territoire, les deux entreprises ont en 2009 contracté Spectrum ASA Royaume-Uni basée à Londres, qui est une filiale de la compagnie d’enquêtes sismique norvégienne Spectrum ASA.

Spectrum ASA a déclaré au principal journal d'affaires en Norvège le Dagens Næringsliv que c'était une erreur de leur part de s’être impliqué au Sahara Occidental.

"Nous ne voulons pas être impliqués dans le Sahara Occidental. Je n'ai aucun problème en affirmant, rétrospectivement, qu'il aurait été une mauvaise idée de prendre cette mission", a déclaré le PDG de la firme, Rune Eng, au sujet du travail qu'ils ont fait pour les Irlandais. Selon lui le bureau de Londres n'était probablement pas conscient du fait que les données proviennent du Sahara occidental.

Il y a quelques mois, le bureau britannique de Spectrum a informé Western Sahara Resource Watch qu'il était «probable» qu'ils prendraient en charge une mission supplémentaire pour San Leon au Sahara Occidental, une fois que San Leon aurait complété les études sismiques cet automne. Après avoir été informés de la nature de leur première mission, ils ont cependant changé d'avis.

Le gouvernement norvégien exhorte les entreprises Norvégiennes de ne pas s'engager dans le Sahara Occidental en raison d’aspects de droit international. Voir la traduction de l'article ci-dessous en anglais.

Western Sahara Resource Watch salue la décision de principe de la firme de s'abstenir de missions supplémentaires pour San Leon au Sahara Occidental occupé.

"Nous attendons de San Leon qu’il suive immédiatement l'exemple de leurs sous-traitants et sorte de la zone. Il est attristant de voir qu’une entreprise irlandaise ouvre la voie pour saper les principes du droit international. San Leon contribue directement à maintenir le conflit dans le territoire. Il est frustrant de constater que tout le monde semble le comprendre - à l'exception de San Leon eux-mêmes. Le peuple sahraoui n'a jamais donné à San Leon de feu vert pour travailler sur ses terres », a déclaré Maiju Kaipiainen de Western Sahara Resource Watch.

WSRW a envoyé de nombreuses lettres à Saint-Léon, sans jamais de réponse. Plusieurs compagnies pétrolières et de services pétrolièrs ont quitté le Sahara Occidental au cours des dernières années, après avoir pris connaissance de la nature du conflit.


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Assisted oil companies in Western Sahara

Makes U-turn: The Norwegian seismic services company Spectrum has assisted oil companies in disputed Western Sahara. Now the firm says ‘no’ to further assignments.

By Per-Ivar Nikolaisen
Norwegian Business Daily [Dagens Næringsliv]
22 Sept 2011

[Translated to English by Western Sahara Resource Watch]

More than 30 years after Morocco seized control over Western Sahara through a bombing campaign, the oil companies San Leon and Longreach shot seismic in the same territory. Data from the disputed territory has been processed by the Norwegian company Spectrum, of which [Norwegian businessman] Øystein Stray Spetalen is the biggest owner and a board member. The company has, through a so-called 3D processing, given the oil firms a clearer picture of the underground.

“Spectrum’s engagement violates the rights of the Saharawi people. Neither Spectrum, San Leon nor the Moroccan authorities have consulted the Saharawi population”, said Erik Hagen, secretary- general of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara.

Advises against engagement
Norway does not recognise Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has for many years advised Norwegian firms against getting engaged in the territory.

The Legal Office of the United Nations expressed in 2002 that all further oil exploration in Western Sahara will be in violation of international law if the local population is not consulted, and if it does not benefit from the industry.

Hagen of the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara points to the fact that the issue of natural resources and the petroleum is part of the peace talks between Morocco and the liberation movement Polisario.

“San Leon’s exploration activities are directly contributing to undermine the UN peace process, and makes the process of decolonisation of Western Sahara that the UN is striving for that much harder”, Hagen stated.

Inviting trouble
Several Norwegian firms have over the previous years learned that small and big business adventures in the occupied territory means trouble. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation [NRK] revealed that GC Rieber Oils had important fish oil from Western Sahara without paying customs. The issue led to Paul-Christian Rieber losing his position as president of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise [NHO]. Also the partially government owned company Yara had to repent after importing phosphates from a mine in Western Sahara.

Rune Eng, CEO of Spectrum ASA, realises now that taking on the assignment of analysing the data from the politically disputed area was wrong, and that they will say ‘no’ to future assignments there.

“We agree with the Support Committee, and has said that we do not want to get engaged in Western Sahara. I have no problem in stating, in retrospect, that it might have been a bad idea to take this assignment”.

“A minor issue”
Spectrum was awarded the contract in April 2009. The company was, according to Longreach, to process seismic data from the so- called Tarfaya block, and get 200.000 Norwegian kroners for the job. The block stretches far into the territory controlled by the liberation movement Polisario.

Eng considers the whole thing “a minor issue”, and does not believe Spectrum had been aware that the data sent their London office was from Western Sahara.

“We got message that there is such and such data that needs to be reprocessed, and that it is onshore material. It could be Myanmar, Cuba or Western Sahara. We are here talking about second round processing. What we see is a number of tapes entering the office. So we don’t necessarily know where the data originates from”, Eng said.

He says that the company now will make an assessment on a project to project basis, and that they will still consider taking on assignments in Morocco proper.

“From what I understand, San Leon has a pretty big engagement both in Western Sahara and in Morocco. It has blocks that are disputed and blocks that are not. Then we would simply have to ask for maps, to see where the data originates from”.

The Western Sahara conflict
Both Morocco and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), led by the liberation movement Polisario, claim sovereignty over Western Sahara. When the colonial power Spain withdrew in 1976, Morocco occupied the territory. After several years of guerrilla warfare, the parties in 1991 reached a ceasefire agreement, each party controlling sectors of the territory. Today Western Sahara is divided in two by a 2200 kilometre long wall erected by the Moroccan army, and only the inhospitable areas to the east and in the south are controlled by Polisario. Over 165.000 Saharawis live as refugees in the neighbouring country Algeria, and Western Sahara is considered as the last unresolved colonial issue in Africa.