• 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)
  • In spite of the special status of Western Sahara \"a non-self governing territory still to be decolonized and occupied by Morocco since 1975 \" the Dutch company FUGRO N.V. agreed to carry out seismic surveys on behalf of the US company Kerr-McGee, which won a license from Morocco in 2001. (wsrw.org)
  • The company Kerr-McGee Corporation 3 Through its subsidiary Kerr-McGee du Maroc Ltd. entered in 2001 into a contract with the governmental Moroccan oil company ONAREP regarding geological and geophysical studies off shore Western Sahara. (regjeringen.no)
  • 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)
  • Moroccan authorities describe Western Sahara as "Moroccan Saharan Provinces", and claim sovereignty over the area. (regjeringen.no)
  • According to the UN, however, Western Sahara is still a Non-Self-Governing Territory, and, as such, not subject to Moroccan sovereignty. (regjeringen.no)
  • 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)
  • 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)
  • We urge the remaining oil companies to follow suit", stated WSRW. (wsrw.org)
  • Jinhui Shipping said Wednesday that it will take into consideration the analysis of Norwegian authorities regarding avoiding trade with phosphates from Western Sahara. (vest-sahara.no)
  • We respect the Norwegian authorities recommending not to ship phosphates from Western Sahara", said Jinhui vice president Raymond Ching at a conference on the fourth quarter results. (vest-sahara.no)
  • Support groups for the people in Western Sahara claims Jinhui on numerous occasions have transported phosphates from there to New Zealand and Australia, and have posted a video of the bulk vessel 'Jin Cheng' discharging the fertilizer ingredient ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=M-1zk-s1Olo ). (vest-sahara.no)
  • Yara stopped the trade of phosphates from Western Sahara in 2005. (vest-sahara.no)
  • 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)
  • Last year, a Norwegian seismic survey company, TGS-Nopec, carried out precisely the same kind of activities in the very same area. (wsrw.org)
  • You will be well aware that other seismic companies have withdrawn bids for this work once the gravity of the political situation became apparent. (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)
  • 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)
  • Shares in the US Kerr-McGee was previously withdrawn from the Norwegian Government's Pension Fund because it was involved in oil exploration offshore Western Sahara. (vest-sahara.no)
  • Dutch and British companies involved in the geological exploration of the seabed of Western Sahara have become the target of an international campaign led by the Norwegian, Dutch and UK branches of an international coalition for the protection of the natural resources of Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • The companies have been advised that any current and future involvement in the exploration of hydrocarbons in Western Sahara is illegitimate, politically improper and ethically irresponsible\", says Liesbeth den Haan from the Netherlands Foundation for the right to Self-Determination for the Saharawi people. (wsrw.org)
  • We demand a guarantee from Fugro N.V. that no future exploration activities will be carried out in Western Sahara without the consent of the Saharawi people, and that the data collected will be handed over to their representatives \" the Polisario Front. (wsrw.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)
  • 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)
  • 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)
  • They are accused by campaigners of being complicit to the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, they are requested to hand over collected data to the Polisario Front, and the shareholders of the companies are being urged to divest. (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)
  • EWOS avslutter kjøp av fiskeolje fra Marokko og Vest-Sahara" (in Norwegian). (wikipedia.org)
  • Economy of Morocco Legal status of Western Sahara Western Saharan cuisine Western Sahara portal The World Factbook. (wikipedia.org)
  • 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)
  • The Government of the SADR, which is a full-fledged member of the African Union and recognised by over 70 Countries worldwide, considers the activities of Fugro N.V. to be unauthorised, illegal and an insult to the Saharawi people. (wsrw.org)
  • More good news for the Saharawi people. (wsrw.org)
  • The background for this request was that the Minister of Finance had received letters from the Western Sahara Support Committee and the Government of the SADR (Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic), asking him to disinvest from the Fund's investments in the company Kerr-McGee Corporation. (regjeringen.no)
  • The British subsidiary of Fugro, Svitzer, has been carrying out the survey, while the Wales-based Robertson Research International has, according to their website, been carrying out a study in the occupied Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • The French multinational oil company has announced that it is no longer pursuing oil search offshore Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • It was the fund manager Hans Thrane-Nielsen in the [Norwegian insurance company] Storebrand Kapitalforvaltning who asked the question in the telephone conference. (vest-sahara.no)
  • According to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UN Security Council has not recognised Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara, and Norway sees it as important to abstain from actions that can be seen as a legitimisation of the situation. (vest-sahara.no)
  • The company\'s two biggest shareholders, The Storebrand Group and The Norwegian government, put pressure on TGS-Nopec to change its policy. (wsrw.org)
  • The Norwegian insurance company Storebrand has blacklisted both phosphate and oil companies involved in occupied Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • The Norwegian pension scheme KLP is excluding the French oil company Total from its investments. (wsrw.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)
  • In October 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected claims from Morocco and Mauritania regarding their alleged sovereignty over the territory. (regjeringen.no)
  • 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)
  • In a letter from the Ministry of Finance dated 12 December 2004, the Petroleum Fund's Council on Ethics was asked to assess whether the investments by the Fund in the company Kerr-McGee could constitute a violation of the Ethical Guidelines for the Government Petroleum Fund. (regjeringen.no)
  • For the first time, Storebrand has published a list of companies which they have excluded from its investment universe of ethical considerations. (wsrw.org)
  • Subsequently, the Ministry of Finance also received a letter from Kerr-McGee Corporation, 1 Letter dated 4 January, 2005. (regjeringen.no)
  • The Council on Ethics has decided to make the following recommendation to the Ministry of Finance, which, according to point 4.5 of the Ethical Guidelines, shall be submitted to the company for comments. (regjeringen.no)
  • The Advisory Boards of the above mentioned companies received a copy of the letter sent to the President of Fugro, and were informed that the companies are seen as being complicit in the illegal occupation of Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • 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 is clearly a country in conflict, in which Fugro N.V. is now involved without authorisation from the legitimate administration. (wsrw.org)
  • Western Sahara Resource Watch. (wikipedia.org)
  • This press release is one of the first initiatives of the network that took the form of Western Sahara Resource Watch, 30 June 2004. (wsrw.org)
  • A representative of Storebrad confirmed to Western Sahara Resource Watch that all four exclusions were due to Western Sahara involvement. (wsrw.org)
  • The majority of the territory of Western Sahara is currently administered by the Kingdom of Morocco. (wikipedia.org)
  • The international coalition for the protection of natural resources of Western Sahara has today sent letters to the president and CEO of Fugro, Mr G-J. Kramer, and to its subsidiaries involved in the actual survey work, condemning their activity in the occupied territory. (wsrw.org)
  • Among them are the French company Total, which are now back in from the cold after they withdrew from the territory. (wsrw.org)
  • Western Sahara, a Spanish protectorate since 1884, was, according to the provisions of the UN Charter, established as a Non-Self-Governing Territory in 1963. (regjeringen.no)
  • The agreement did not alter the status of Western Sahara as Non-Self-Governing Territory under the UN. (regjeringen.no)
  • In the Agreement, Spain confirmed her intentions of contributing to the decolonisation of Western Sahara, and to transfer the duties as Administrative Power to Morocco and Mauritania. (regjeringen.no)
  • The Corell Opinion recognises Morocco as the de facto administrative power of Western Sahara. (ipsnews.net)
  • Subsequently Morocco invaded parts of Western Sahara, which led to strong reactions from the Security Council. (regjeringen.no)
  • The list also shows the exclusion of the Swiss company Glencore. (wsrw.org)
  • Until the publication of the Storebrand exclusion list, it has not been known which companies Storebrand had refrained from investing in. (wsrw.org)
  • Desertec, a Munich-based solar energy company, declined to place a plant in Western Sahara for "reputational reasons. (wikipedia.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)
  • However, its involvement in Western Sahara has been taken note of and will be dealt with if the company tidies up the other issues», the representative stated. (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)
  • In December 2004, French oil company TotalEnergies decided not to renew their license off Western Sahara. (wikipedia.org)
  • Our support groups in Holland, Wales and England have now requested urgent meetings with the mother company and the two subsidiariesí, she states. (wsrw.org)
  • The contract was not extended in December 2015", company writes on website. (wsrw.org)
  • The only response that the campaign group has received from Fugro so far (apart from an announcement that the survey from one of its subsidiaries is recently completed) is the assertion that no UN embargo is in place in Western Sahara. (wsrw.org)
  • In Asia we are not so aware of the problems in Western Sahara. (vest-sahara.no)
  • arguing that their company should not be subject to disinvestment from the Fund. (regjeringen.no)
  • for 2004, which was published on 1 March 2005, the Fund had equity holdings of NOK 221 978 000 and fixed income securities of NOK 115 344 000 in Kerr-McGee Corporation. (regjeringen.no)
  • In 2015, a European court invalidated a trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Morocco that involved Western Sahara, prompting a diplomatic backlash from Morocco. (wikipedia.org)
  • Government and business leaders from the United States and Morocco are gathering in Rabat this week for the second annual Morocco-U.S. Business Development Conference. (ipsnews.net)
  • We are disillusioned with the lack of transparency in the operations of these companies, and their unwillingness to disclose any specific information about their activities. (wsrw.org)
  • KLP considers Total's activities in Western Sahara unethical. (wsrw.org)
  • As such, the majority of the economic activity of Western Sahara happens in the framework of the economy of Morocco. (wikipedia.org)