[For background to this story, check here:
http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/devastation-madagascar/5524 ]
Madagascar Oil standoff with island government continues
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
by Andre Lamberti
Madagascar Oil’s standoff with the government is still continuing and the group said it remains extremely concerned by the delays that have been incurred since the initial meeting on December 16 2010 in which the island’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) said it was interested in buying the company's licences.
The stock remains suspended at 75 pence.
Madagascar Oil said today it has been seeking to resolve this issue with the government of Madagascar and also to complete the process of approving the 2011 work programmes and budgets.
On January 26, Madagascar Oil met with the MMH to further discuss and clarify the situation regarding the status of the production sharing contracts in question - being blocks 3104, 3105, 3106 and 310, but not including the Bemolanga licence, which is part owned by international giant Total.
The meeting followed several written requests for clarification of the uncertainty created during the meeting held on December 16 2010. The meeting was preceded on January 13. by notification from OMNIS (the Office of National Mines and Strategic Industries), the regulatory agency that manages Madagascar's oil and gas resources, that an audit of the company's Tsimiroro block would be undertaken by the MMH.
During the January 2011 meeting, the Minister advised Madagascar Oil that the MMH audit was "not a cause for concern" and that the company should be able to return to discuss the results of the audit in approximately one month's time.
In light of the current situation, with the exception of some essential care and maintenance of the assets, operations have been curtailed, but could be restored quickly, the group said.
Madagascar Oil chief operating officer Mark Weller said: "The inevitable consequence of the MMH's prior actions, and now the added effect of the announced audit, is a further delay in our ability to proceed with the significant work planned for 2011.”
The company's management is confident that the MMH audit of Tsimiroro, or any of its other blocks, will demonstrate that the company remains in full compliance with the PSCs and that its historical work programmes have vastly exceeded the minimum work requirements of such PSCs.
Madagascar Oil will provide further updates in due course.
http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/25343/madagascar-oil-...
