2nd Mar 2015 11:25
LONDON (Alliance News) - Tullow Oil PLC shares dropped sharply Monday after it warned that it could be hit by a racheting up of tensions in a maritime border dispute between Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Tullow shares plummeted by 6.5% to 363.80 pence per share on Monday morning.
Tullow said it has been advised by the government of Ghana that the Ivory Coast has requested that provisional measures be put in place until the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea has given a full verdict on the boundary dispute, which is expected towards the end of 2017, said Tullow.
The arbitration was launched by Ghana in 2014 in an effort to resolve a dispute with regard to the maritime boundary between Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
The provisional measures include suspending all ongoing exploration and exploitation operations in the disputed area, where Tullow's TEN project is situated.
The company said it expects a decision on whether the provisional measures will be enforced to be made before the end of April.
"Although the arbitration process allows for an application of provisional measures, it is our view that it is in the best interest of all parties that the TEN project continues to move ahead without delay and unencumbered by legal tactics of this nature," said Chief Executive Aidan Heavey.
"Tullow's advice from external counsel is that Ghana has a strong case under international law that the current boundary location, which follows an equidistance line, will be upheld by the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea in accordance with the Law of the Sea Convention to which both states are party," said the company.
Tullow said work on the TEN project is continuing and "remains on schedule and on budget for first oil in the mid-2016."
The Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme project, or TEN project, is made up of three gas and oil fields located in the Deepwater Tano licence which covers an area of more than 800 square kilometres, and lies around 20 kilometres west of Tullow?s Jubilee field.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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