“Heritage called in the cavalry” – investigation reveals oil company’s role in Congo killings
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May 21, 2012
Documents sourced by Platform play a key role in a new Corporate Watch investigation revealing how British oil company Heritage triggered a Ugandan military operation that led to six Congolese individuals being killed, including a three-year-old child. The two-year investigation in East Africa exposes a cover-up and raises further concerns over oil extraction in the...
The Ugandan draft oil law: A search in vain for accountability and democratic oversight
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Feb 22, 2012
Platform has released a new briefing analysing Uganda’s draft “Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Bill” The report – entitled “The Ugandan Upstream oil law: A search in vain for accountability and democratic oversight”, highlights the lack of parliamentary oversight, transparency, or consultation or involvement of affected communities in the proposed oil law. At the same...
Tullow sues Heritage – Uganda pays the price; court papers published for $300m oil trial
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Nov 28, 2011
Guestblog by Taimour Lay, Former Platform researcher, Uganda and DRC. Download the full court papers (30 megabytes) A court case in London between Tullow and Heritage will reveal much of what went wrong in the battle over Uganda’s oil. It is a long way from the shores of Lake Albert to the new commercial court...
London-based oil-mercenary company marches into Libya
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Oct 4, 2011
Oil and private military/mercenary company Heritage has muscled its way into Libya. The London-based oil company is the first new foreign oil company to buy its way into Libya, after acquiring a controlling 51% stake in Sahara Oil Services – which apparently brings the right to bid for and operate oil and gas licenses in...
The world’s biggest data leak
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Sep 3, 2011
On Friday 2 September, Wikileaks finally published the full batch of over 250,000 US diplomatic cables. The unredacted cables are now available online. The decision to dump the data in the open has landed Wikileaks in further controversy and drawn condemnation from its former media partners around the world, due to the possible risk of harm or...
Wikileaks cable shines light on ENI corruption in Uganda; Heritage offered to pay bribes in Congo
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Dec 15, 2010
• SECRET US CABLE SHINES LIGHT ON ENI CORRUPTION IN UGANDA • HERITAGE OFFERED TO PAY BRIBES IN CONGO ‘’If Tullow’s allegations are true – and we believe they are …” US Embassy, Kampala, 17 December 2009 A secret United States diplomatic cable (below and here) published by Wikileaks last week has exposed the real politics...
Ugandan government shifts position on deal with Heritage Oil to force company to pay up its Capital Gains Tax
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Jul 26, 2010
From the Daily Monitor: “The insistence on tax has put the entire deal on ice. The President’s feelings on the matter were put forcefully and emotively by Energy Minister Hilary Onek in a phone interview on Friday. ‘Arbitration only arises in the case of other disputes – not tax,’ Eng. Onek said, warning that the...
PLATFORM reveals Congo oil contracts that threaten resource wars and $10 billion rip-off
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May 25, 2010
Tullow & British Embassy push disputed deal that could cut Congo’s revenues by $10 billion Confidential oil contracts held by UK companies Tullow and Heritage in the Democratic Republic of Congo were leaked today, revealing the danger of economic rip-off and rights abuses in one of Africa’s most unstable countries. The Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) are...
Contracts Curse: Leaked Oil Deals Put Ugandans at Risk
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Feb 18, 2010
Oil contracts signed secretly in Uganda and exposed by PLATFORM will allow major oil companies to flare gas with impunity in the country’s Lake Alberta region on the border with Congo. As the New York Times reports: “Production is going to start in 2010 with no environmental assessment having yet been carried out,” said Platform’s...
Oil companies provide equipment to military in Congo
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Jan 5, 2010
Another investigation by Taimour Lay shows the risks of Tullow & Heritage’s oil finds on Lake Albert fueling new fighting between armed forces (armies and militias) in the region. “Heritage Oil, owned by former mercenary fighter Tony Buckingham, had donated speed boats to the FARDC (Congolese national army) in March 2007 and had also been...
PLATFORM leaks Uganda’s oil contracts – not such a rosy deal after all
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Nov 22, 2009
Held secret by the Ugandan government and oil companies Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil, PLATFORM today is revealing the terms of the contracts for oil operations by Lake Albert on the Uganda-Congo border, and their economic implications. For the first time, one of Uganda’s Production Sharing Agreements is available to the public to read, after...
“Worst kept secret? Tullow Oil’s contract” in Uganda
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Oct 11, 2009
Great article by Taimour Lay in Uganda’s Independent: The full release of Uganda’s Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) with Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil & Gas is the fundamental first step towards forging a democratic and socially responsible extraction of oil in the Albertine rift. Instead, Ugandans are being subjected to a disinformation campaign coordinated by...
