Gambia: Government cancels licences

The government has cancelled licences awarded to African Petroleum and Oranto Petroleum for “failure to meet the licence obligations by the licensees”. A statement by the Office of the President in Banjul said the government’s decision was in accordance with the provisions of the country’s petroleum laws. African Petroleum farmed into blocks A1 and A4 held by Canada’s Buried Hill Energy in August 2010, while Oranto held the onshore Lower River Block. “These licences have been terminated with immediate effect. The Gambia government will not allow any institution to acquire licences only to keep them for speculation.