• In 2002, the petroleum companies TotalEnergies and Kerr-McGee were awarded contracts to explore for oil in the region. (wikipedia.org)
  • Already in 2002, shortly after Morocco issued its first oil licences in Western Sahara, did Storebrand actively engage in the matter of Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • In 2002, Morocco awarded contracts for oil exploration in the Western Sahara to a U.S.-based company, Kerr McGee, and the French-based Total S.A. In response, the United Nations issued what is known as the Corell Opinion regarding the legality of resource extraction in Western Sahara. (ipsnews.net)
  • The US-based firm Kosmos Energy began a contract to explore offshore from Western Sahara in 2013, prompting criticism from activist groups such as Western Sahara Resource Watch. (wikipedia.org)
  • After Total withdrew from further work in the territory, the remaining oil companies on stock exchange active in Western Sahara are Kosmos Energy, Cairn Energy, Glencore PLC and San Leon Energy. (wsrw.org)
  • Trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan government. (wikipedia.org)
  • The government-in-exile of the Polisario Front had also signed contracts for oil exploration, but there is no practical work, due to the fact that the zones given are in the Moroccan-controlled part of the territory. (wikipedia.org)
  • In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that a fishing treaty between the EU and the Moroccan government did not include fishing grounds off the coast of Western Sahara. (wikipedia.org)
  • In May 2006, Kerr-McGee decided to not renew the contract signed with the Moroccan Authorities. (wikipedia.org)
  • The French company Total paid the Moroccan government near 4 million US dollars for the Anzarane exploration licence offshore Western Sahara, under illegal occupation. (wsrw.org)
  • It has also confirmed that it has "no plans" to return to the territory, which lies in the part of Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation. (wsrw.org)
  • Advocacy groups like the Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) contest the legality of foreign businesses, like Kosmos, working with the Moroccan government to exploit Western Saharan resources. (ipsnews.net)
  • WASHINGTON, Mar 11 2014 (IPS) - Even as U.S. and Moroccan executives meet to discuss strengthening private sector ties between the two countries, advocacy groups are raising concerns about plans by a U.S. energy firm to explore for oil in the contested territory known as Western Sahara. (ipsnews.net)
  • The Moroccan government hopes to capitalise on its 2006 free trade agreement with the United States and encourage U.S. investment in the country by presenting it as a gateway to European, Middle Eastern and African markets. (ipsnews.net)
  • There's a lot going on in Morocco, and the question is how can it leverage what it has to attract American investments to Morocco that can then be directed to a European market or south to the African markets," Jean AbiNader, the executive director of the Moroccan American Trade and Investment Centre, a non-profit established by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, told IPS. (ipsnews.net)
  • While international investors in renewable energy have long favoured Morocco, enabling the construction of solar plants and wind farms, U.S. and European corporations are also rushing to take advantage of concessions for possible oil reserves, some of which are potentially located in the Western Sahara, which many people view as under Moroccan occupation. (ipsnews.net)
  • Sahrawis [indigenous Western Saharans] are standing on the sidelines of this project, waving their arms and telling companies to stop doing this on behalf of the Moroccan government. (ipsnews.net)
  • Unlike Morocco, the Polisario Front did not want to allow Moroccan settlers in the Western Sahara to participate in the referendum. (ipsnews.net)
  • To date, no other state recognises Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, which is on the United Nations list of Non Self-Governing Territories. (ipsnews.net)
  • Economy of Morocco Legal status of Western Sahara Western Saharan cuisine Western Sahara portal The World Factbook. (wikipedia.org)
  • More controversially, Kosmos now intends to start oil exploration in an area off the Western Saharan coast, known as Cap Boujdour, in October. (ipsnews.net)
  • After calling for Western Saharan independence from Spain, Morocco took control of the territory, which it calls the Southern Provinces, in 1976 after the Spanish withdrew. (ipsnews.net)
  • Since then, however, both multinational energy firms and Western Saharan advocacy groups have construed the U.N. opinion to favour their respective stances. (ipsnews.net)
  • We urge the remaining oil companies to follow suit", stated WSRW. (wsrw.org)
  • It was also stated that the exclusion of Total was reversed after the French multinational decided to withdraw its involvement in Western Sahara in December 2015. (wsrw.org)
  • The French multinational oil company has announced that it is no longer pursuing oil search offshore Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • Following years of armed conflict between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, the international community established the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in 1991. (ipsnews.net)
  • Fishing and oil exploration contracts concerning Western Sahara are sources of political tension. (wikipedia.org)
  • Electricity - production: 0 (all estimates are for 2015) Electricity - consumption: 0 Oil - production: 0 barrels per day (0 m3/d) Oil - consumption: 1,700 barrels per day (270 m3/d) Fishing and oil exploration contracts concerning Western Sahara are sources of political tension. (wikipedia.org)
  • An increasing number of investors are questioning the involvement of exploration of oil in Western Sahara, which the UN Legal Counsel found to be in violation of international law. (wsrw.org)
  • At a Storebrand seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility in 2003, even the then deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Vidar Helgesen, who is now he Norwegian minister for EU affairs, underlined the problematic aspects of TGS-Nopecs oil exploration in Western Sahara . (wsrw.org)
  • Morocco has placed a high emphasis on oil and gas exploration in its energy policy. (ipsnews.net)
  • But it also states that "while the specific contracts … are not in themselves illegal, if further exploration and exploitation activities were to proceed in disregard of the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the principles of international law applicable to mineral resource activities in Non-Self-Governing Territories. (ipsnews.net)
  • Western Sahara Resource Watch works to uncover the plunder of the territory and to keep the companies and governments accountable for their support to the occupation. (wsrw.org)
  • Western Sahara Resource Watch. (wikipedia.org)
  • A representative of Storebrad confirmed to Western Sahara Resource Watch that all four exclusions were due to Western Sahara involvement. (wsrw.org)
  • EWOS avslutter kjøp av fiskeolje fra Marokko og Vest-Sahara" (in Norwegian). (wikipedia.org)
  • The Norwegian insurance company Storebrand has blacklisted both phosphate and oil companies involved in occupied Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • Storebrand was at the time one of the major shareholders of the Norwegian seismic survey company TGS-Nopec which mapped the seafloor of Western Sahara for Total and Kerr-McGee. (wsrw.org)
  • The Norwegian pension scheme KLP is excluding the French oil company Total from its investments. (wsrw.org)
  • Storebrand, among the larger life insurance and pension savings companies in Norway, has divested from three phosphate companies importing phosphates from Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • On the published list , there are four companies that were excluded due to involvement in Western Sahara: the French oil company Total, as well as the three phosphate importers Agrium, PotashCorp, and Incitec Pivot. (wsrw.org)
  • Desertec, a Munich-based solar energy company, declined to place a plant in Western Sahara for "reputational reasons. (wikipedia.org)
  • At this week's conference, participating energy companies, such as Dow Chemical, were given the option to attend sessions on Morocco's energy sector, highlighting the potential for both renewable and carbon-based investment in the kingdom. (ipsnews.net)
  • More good news for the Saharawi people. (wsrw.org)
  • Morocco is not willing to allow the people the right to self-determination today, and the oil industry is becoming an obstacle in terms of putting pressure in Morocco to accept that right. (ipsnews.net)
  • The majority of the territory of Western Sahara is currently administered by the Kingdom of Morocco. (wikipedia.org)
  • Among them are the French company Total, which are now back in from the cold after they withdrew from the territory. (wsrw.org)
  • For the first time, Storebrand has published a list of companies which they have excluded from its investment universe of ethical considerations. (wsrw.org)
  • The list also shows the exclusion of the Swiss company Glencore. (wsrw.org)