White Nile demands $18m from government New Times, 13/06/12 - A bruising battle with TOTAL for Block Ba may have come to an end with White Nile getting evicted, but the company is claiming nearly $20 million in compensation from government, claiming this is the equivalent of the value of work on this block before its ejection. And, the company is now claiming that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining has accepted to pay this much. White Nile, now trading as Pan-African agricultural company Agriterra Ltd is to receive £11,372,682 compensation, which it claims it invested before it was expelled. According to White Nile, the ministry acknowledged that compensation for White Nile should have been paid much earlier and had confirmed that it would be paid within one year. The compensation is acknowledged as being partial recompense for the work undertaken and the substantial investment made by the company on the Block Ba oil concession area in Southern Sudan, during its previous incarnation as White Nile Limited, an oil and gas exploration company. White Nile started work on Block Ba in 2005 and continued exploratory activities prior to the NPC’s decision to prohibit exploration work in the area, in June 2007. Agriterra says that while the communication from the MPM is a positive development in the company’s efforts to achieve a resolution to this long running matter, it has now called for a meeting with the relevant authorities in the Republic of South Sudan in an effort to expedite payment. The company also retains, as a legacy asset, a 20% interest in the South Omo block in Ethiopia, which London-listed Tullow Oil and Africa Oil Corp have farmed into. Initial results announced by Tullow following drilling in Block 10BB in Kenya, which houses the same petroleum system as South Omo, have been highly positive, increasing the prospectivity of the South Omo Block. Should a discovery be made on the South Omo block, Agriterra’s 20% interest could prove to be significant for the company’s shareholders and Agriterra looks forward to future announcements from Tullow regarding this concession. Agriterra chief executive Andrew Groves said: “Our legacy oil assets are continuing to look extremely promising, with the South Omo block prominent in Tullow and Africa Oil east African exploration plans. “An £11 million cash payment from the South Sudanese represents approximately 30% of our current market capitalisation and further enhances our already strong balance sheet on a non-dilutive basis.”
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