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Friday, December 10, 2010
Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) has asked international banks to halt further funding of the US oil firm Kosmos Energy, according to a release from the group. The company is exploring for oil offshore occupied Western Sahara.
The statement from (WSRW) said that should Morocco, through Kosmos, discover oil offshore Western Sahara, it will undermine the UN peace process in the territory, and risk destabilizing the fragile ceasefire in the region.
WSRW said that according to the 2002 legal opinion from the UN Security Council Kosmos’ actions offshore Western Sahara are illegal; yet despite this WSRW Kosmos continues its exploration program.
While maintaining its program offshore Western Sahara, Kosmos is also the operator of a major oil find offshore Ghana. To develop the Ghana block, Kosmos earlier this year increased its project finance debt facilities by $350 million, through agreements with Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas SA, Société Generale, Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Crédit Suisse International, Citibank, N.A., Natixis, HSBC Bank, and FirstRand Bank Ltd.
WSRW has now appealed to these banks, as well as to International Finance Corp. and Africa Finance Corp., to suspend further funding to the company.
“We believe that your financial support to the company is highly unfortunate. It is our opinion that the firm shows no respect for the community in which it operates. We call on your firm to take measures as a responsible financial institution and avoid any further financial support to Kosmos, including in Ghana, until the firm has introduced and implemented a CSR policy, and started to respect the fundamental principles of human rights”, stated Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) in a letter to the banks this week.
WSRW has for several years urged Kosmos to leave the territory, to no avail.
“This small group of international banks has a golden opportunity to contribute in stopping an escalation of the conflict in Western Sahara. When the drilling in the occupied territory begins, the banks do not wish to be associated with this unethical firm. They need to address this issue with Kosmos while they still have a chance to do so,” stated Maiju Kaipiainen, chair of Western Sahara Resource Watch.
Kosmos carried out seismic surveys offshore Western Sahara in 2009.
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