Oil, gas discovered
as well as heavy metals
By Sheriff Bojang, Madi Njie & Ebrima Jaw Manneh
Feb 16, 2004, 13:30

The president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has revealed that huge reserves of oil have been discovered in the country. In a
televised address to the nation on Friday, February 13 at 18:00 from his office, State House, President Jammeh said the discovery of
oil in the country has been confirmed by "Western companies" contracted to conduct a study of a possible presence of potential
natural resources in the country.

The companies, which he declined to name, have completed a thorough evaluation of 500 square kilometres out of 2,000 square
kilometres of deep water, and 3,000 square kilometres of shallow water of The Gambia's maritime on and offshore territories.

President Jammeh said before the end of the year, an exploratory well could be drilled and tested to confirm the results of the
study. That, he said, could mark the beginning of a new future for The Gambia. "With this first study, we have planted the seeds of
what we believe...will be prosperity for our people. This harvest will change the future of our country," he said. The President
further revealed that a study has already been commissioned "to study and evaluate the extent of oil in the remainder of the Gambian
deep sea and shallow water maritime and land territories" and that more oil reserves are likely to be discovered.

According to him, since 1956, there have been efforts to explore the existence of oil reserves in The Gambia. He said the former
regime of President Jawara contracted a Canadian company [Petro Canada International] to undergo a study in the 1980s, but it was a
failure, and that when he assumed power, he gave it a high priority, successfully culminating in the current discovery.

Dubbing the discovery "The Alhamdulillah Prospect", President Jammeh said the travails of the Gambian people like hunger and
poverty, will become "things of the past". He commended the governments of Canada, Taiwan, Nigeria, Turkey and Mauritania and all
institutions and companies who made the project a success within six months.
Justifying the Friday announcement which his critics are likely to call premature, President Jammeh explained that he wanted to shed
light on the speculations following his last new year message in which he intimated that The Gambia could undergo a seismic
transformation from being a borrower nation to a donor nation.

President Jammeh also said he took over the portfolio of Energy from the department of state for Trade and Industry because in
addition to sorting out the persistent electricity problem, he wanted to fast-pedal the search for oil.

The president however cautioned the people of The Gambia that the country could be wealthy and yet they remain poor if they do not
change their unsung attitudes and kick out corruption. He said Gambians should foster homogeneity and avoid sectionalism, tribalism
and cronyism.

Windfall
Meanwhile, Daily Observer has learnt that The Gambia also has large deposits of natural gas and heavy minerals like ilmenite, zircon
and rutile, found along the coastal areas and that more than one million of these heavy minerals have already been assessed years
ago.

Speaking to the authoritative US Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy Magazine, President Jammeh was quoted as saying, "The
country has a significant mineral potential; and do not exclude raw materials for making tiles, ceramics and other types of raw
materials which could be used for construction."

In September 2002, the Gambia Government began discussing a programme of soil classification and base mapping in the country, using
the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Technology (RST).

Apart from the importance of such data for agriculture and mineral exploitation, the use of satellite reconnaissance to accurately
define the region could contribute significantly to the 'quantification' of The Gambia's assets. By identifying boundaries and
creating an accurate and comprehensive cartographic base for the country, the ground was laid for a valuation of national assets, a
key to developing national creditworthiness. Further detailed geological surveys in which 2D and 3D surveys were also carried out
and the seismic data reports were found to have been "very positive and encouraging".

Hub
West Africa is proving to be the world's most significant next area of economic expansion and strategic energy and other natural
resources and West African oil is said to be low in sulphur, reducing refining cost. But what has been lacking is a viable and
neutral nexus, to serve as a window for West Africa to the world, and a portal through which the international community can focus
on the region.

However, since 2002, analysts in Washington have held the opinion that as West African energy resources take on a new dimension of
global importance, a new key to addressing the region appears to be shaping up in the form of The Gambia.
The Gambia is seen as an ideal hub or transshipment point for oil and or natural gas pipelines as a pipeline network linking the
West African energy fields with Europe is under consideration.
© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company

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