Ethiopian army holds talks with foreign oil firms over security
May 19, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — In reaction to recent rebel attack against a Chinese oil firm working in the east of the country, Ethiopian army held a meeting with the three companies engaged in petroleum exploration activities in the country to dissipate fears and apprehensions.
In presence of the minister of mines and energy, Samora; Alemayehu Tegenu, the Ethiopian army chief-of-staff, Let-Gen Samora Yunus, last week held a meeting with representatives of Petronas, South-West Energy and Pexco, the Addis Ababa based Reporter said today.
The meeting discussed the rebel ONLF attack against a Chinese oil field at dawn in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday April 24. The oil firm representatives expressed fears for the security of their staff and the exploration equipments.
74 people were killed in the rebel attack — Nine Chinese workers of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB) and 65 Ethiopian. It is the first attack against a foreign company in Ethiopia.
Representatives of the companies told Gen. Samora that the ONLF had previously threatened the companies. The representatives said they had informed the government of the security threat. They said however the army failed to protect the workers.
Representatives of the oil firms told the Ethiopian officials that they were forced to suspend the exploration work until the government ensured safety in the Ogaden basin.
The official Chinese Xinhua news agency reported that the attackers fought 100 Ethiopian soldiers protecting the facility in a 50-minute gunbattle.
Minister Alemayehu and Gen Samora told the representatives of the petroleum companies that the government was taking a strong action against the rebel group. The officials said the national defence forces will ensure a strong military protection.
The volatile Somali Regional State, as the Ogaden is known, “is not a safe environment for any oil exploration to occur. We urge all international oil companies to refrain from entering into agreements with the Ethiopian government,” the ONLF said in a press statement on the attack.
Ethiopia is not an oil-producing country. But companies such as the Chinese one and Malaysia’s state-owned oil giant Petronas have signed exploration deals. The British White Nile also claims holding talks with Ethiopia over oil concessions in al-Galabat near the Sudanese border.
(ST)