Chinese firm's oil rights withdrawn in Gabon

Gabon has taken the exceptional step of withdrawing the right of Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec, to exploit an oilfield, raising concerns over possible repercussions on the business climate.

Production at the southwestern Obangue oilfield, totalling 9,000 barrels per day, has been transferred since the end of last year from Addax to the new state-run Gabon Oil Company (GOC), set up in 2011.

Officially, the Chinese firm is being sanctioned for failing to meet "contractual obligations".

The state's complaints against Addax include "bad management", "instances of corruption," "shortfalls in the respect of the environment" and dodging taxes on oil exports.

"After several months of fruitless negotiations … we decided definitively to withdraw the Obangue field from Addax Petroleum," Oil Minister Etienne Ngoubou said.

The incident is the first of its kind in Gabon and these measures against well-established firms such as Addax, which has operated in the central African country since 1996 and is the fourth oil producer there, are rare worldwide.