RESISTENCE No. 12 Oilwatch Network Bulletin January 2001 Dear friends: Now with the culmination of the second milennium, we are seeing the fusion of various petroleum companies to form mega-companies, as in the cases of Exxon/Mobil, BP/Amoco/Arco, Elf/Total/Fina, Chevron/Texaco, YPF/Repsol, Conoco/Petrocanada, which represent the union of small enterprises. The industry has decided to stop depending on the reserves of the Middle East and look for new reserves in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The industry looks fondly upon investment in the processes of privatization imposed on the hydrocarbon sector of various Third World countries. This has been the case of Repsol of Spain, which acquired a large percentage of YPF, the Argentine state enterprise. Other companies, such as Petronas (Malaysia), Hemeralda Hess (US) and Premier (UK), have made associations with state enterprises as well. In the dawning of the new century, the companies have undertaken to resolve certain technological problems in order to access reserves that they couldn´t before, such as in the exploitation of heavy crude and extraheavy products such as bitumen in the Hamaca region of Venezuela, and the exploitation of crude in deep waters of Africa and Asia. Other companies such as Arco have decided to invest in so-called "remote zones" like Irian Jaya. Another important sector will be gas, which has grown considerably en various regions of the world, with the intention of creating a door to door distribution between neighboring countries. This has generated the construction of large regional gas pipeline networks with the resulting environmental and social consequences. The multilateral bank plays an important role in the construction of such pipelines. With the politics of deregulation and with labor laws, which are being imposed in virtually all countries of the world through structural adjustment programs, the petroleum companies are able to find in such countries an available work force which they can utilize without having to assume greater responsibilities pertaining to labor, and at low cost. Understanding of the strategies of the industry will help us to design our own strategies of defense for the upcoming century. 1. IN CAMPAIGN

PERU: Declaration of Aidecos and Adecop in regard to the petroleum spill in San José de Saramuro On 3 October, the petroleum company Pluspetrol experienced a crude oil spill of 5,500 barrels, which represents 264,000 gallons. To date, this oil spill in Saramuro, Marañon River, has not been dealt with adequately. This fact has affected the river´s waters, the Cocama-Cocamilla and riparian populations, and the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. Given the indifference shown by some authorities, the communication media and investigators, the indigenous community Cocama-Cocamilla, organized in Aidecos (Indigenous Conservation Association of Samiria) and Adecop (Development Association of Pacaya) declared, in regard to the spill, solidarity with the following institutions: Parish of Santa Rita de Castilla, Formabiap (Program for the Training of Bilingual Teachers) Aidesap Central (Indigenous Development Association of the Peruvian Jungle), Municipality of Parinari, and Orai (Aidesep Regional Office, Iquitos). The communiqué was in the following terms: "We ask for the solidarity of all social organizations, ecologists and other profesionals interested in Amazonia and of the population in general with the indigenous community Cocama-Cocamilla. This community is the only one who can testify and contribute to knowledge about human adaptation in an "bajial" ecosystem. In this natural environment, the activities of apropriation and transformation developed by the people to satisfy their needs rotate around the variation the rising and fall of the river. These events mark the seasons of the year, regulate the annual cycle of plant and animal life and the possibilities for the subsistence of human beings. It isn´t surprising, then, that fishing is the principal activity elaborated by the men, and that the Cocama are recognized by the Loreto population as great fishermen or "fisgas" of the Amazonia. Beyond the environmental contamination, the spill has affected the Cocama-Cocamila and riparian communities socially. In indigenous beliefs, water represents and unlimited resource, always available, without restrictions of usage. We are not accustomed to restrict it in the preparation of our food, for cleaning, or for recreation. We also are worried about our symbolic world, for the yacurunas and for the mother of the fishes, mui watsu, the "large viper," that inhabit the bottom of the waters and continuously travel about the rivers. We protest the services of water apportionments and medical attention given by Pluspetrol. The company gave inadequate water apportionment to the affected population. There were two types of water distribution: one by way of drum cannisters and the other by way of a barge. With an urban criteria, they delivered to each family a 20 liter drum each week, without taking into account that each had an average of 10 individuals. The distribution by barges took place recently after 15 days of the spill, and the people didn´t use the water for consumption because of its bad taste and smell. It seems that the barge that supplied that water had been recently painted. The donation of medicines and medical service was insufficient taking into account the size of the

affected population. The company only contracted three doctors to work in San José de Saramuro, Santa Rita de Castilla, and San Regís. We protest the cynicism of the company that now asks that each effected community sign a letter thanking it for the "donations" that is makes in the zone. It is evident that Pluspetrol takes advantage of the economic conditions in which the people live. To date, Pluspetrol has handled the "cleaning" of the crude in a relative manner. It has not considered the cleaning of the heavy elements contained in the crude and their sedentation to the bottom of the river. Nor has it appreciated the respective degradation of the land, that is to say the cleaning of the beaches and shores where the crude has adhered itself (with the imminent rising of the river this crude will penetrate the interior of the reserve). Its work is slow, already there is crude in Orillas del Marañón, and is negligent, in that at some sites crude burns on the beaches or is buried in the banks at a depth of 40 cm. The population that collects the crude doesn´t have adequate technology for the work and smears itself with risks to its health in exchange for a wage of 18 Sols a day. Neither Pluspetrol nor the state show seriousness in regard to the problem of the safety of the riparian citizen. We ask that an impartial and qualified institution conduct a diagnostic on the current and future impact of the spill of 5,500 barrels of crude. In regard to health, the damage is clear: the people have diarrhea, headaches and skin problems. The population knows that it is in a critical situation and is worried. Despite the declarations of Pluspetrol and the State that "there isn´t any damage" and that the "river is clean," the people are dismayed because the fish have disappeared from the effected zone and there isn´t "mijano," fact that demonstrates the contamination of the waters. This is serious given the importance of fishing in providing proteins for the riparian population. So as to prevent a reoccurence of this event, we demand maximum control of the barges that transport crude through the Amazonia. It is incredible that up until now the authorities have not ordered Pluspetrol to retrieve the remains sunken in the Marañón, although it is known to contain crude. In the future, this could cause new ravages to the aquatic ecosystem of the Marañón. We alert the Peruvian population to the fact that 20% of the extraction of gas from Camisea will be under the charge of Pluspetrol, transnational corporation that is demonstrating itself to be irresponsible and does not consider the natural environment important. We ask ourselves why the Port Authority of Iquitos, as guilty of this ecological disaster as Pluspetrol, hasn´t assumed its responsibility in the matter, given that barge BZ 346, responsible for the disaster, is the property of Ofopeco, the civilian company of the Peruvian navy. Why has this institution permitted one of its barges to provide this type of service without minimum conditions of guarantee?

Finally, we demand respect for our lands and solicit that Pluspetrol immediately leave the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. For the following reasons: to date, they have not demonstrated responsibility in the extraction of petroleum. This is evidenced in two palpable facts that are the contaminations of bodies of water. In 1999, the contamination of the Chambira River was detected, effecting our Urarina indigenous brothers, and in the present with have the crude spill in our waters of San José de Saramuro. And to finalize, the indigenous community of Cocama that has inhabited this zone for a millenium demands that the company leave its lands and its waters. As an aquatic society, it has been affected in its very heart, at the base of its sustenance and of its spiritual world. Iquitos, 9 November, 2000 Adiemos Adecop Note: any pronouncement of solidarity can be directed to Miguel Manihuari Tamani - President of Adiemos and to Nelson Arimuya Murayari - President of Adecop by e-mail at: ppsgrupo@rail.org.pe ECUADOR: Acción Ecológica´s Stand on the OCP Pipeline Quito, 10 November, 2000 The construction of oil pipelines has severe impacts from the moment the way is cleared. It provokes deforestation, interruption of the flow of water, affectation of agriculture and social conflicts in urban zones, among other things. In a country like Ecuador, traversed by seismic fault lines, it is impossible to find a safe route. Volcanos affect all possible routes. Oil spills fundamentally located in the zones that cross the mountain range provoke the contamination of the headwaters of the rivers, threatening the alimentary security of the country. Spills, fires and explosions in the case of Ecuador, are not simply isolated accidents, they are part of the daily history of the petroleum industry infrastructure. To achieve the quota of more than 350,000 barrels daily that the OCP is anticipated to transport, the production reserves located in protected areas and indigenous territories must be included. This pipeline that will transport heavy crude presents three problems, summarized below:

This crude that has an elevated quantity of sulfur and heavy metals that cause the accelerated deterioration of the petroleum infrastructure and, for its transport and refining requires a great quantity of energy and emits a greater percentage of wastes than light crude. It is extracted by private enterprises that have demonstrated strong ties with processes of corruption and have shown themselves to be economically inefficient. The construction route of the OCP, for the most part, runs parallel to the SOTE (Transecuadorian Oil Pipeline System). During the construction of the SOTE, the serious risks that this infrastructure presented were not taken into consideration, seeing that: • The route of the SOTE is of high seismic risk • The earth along a large part of the route is very soft and vulnerable • Only the great distance in relation with the Peruvian border was considered in order

to guarantee its safety, however today it is the most vulnerable route in terms of security, given that it is very close to the border with Colombia

• During the time in which it was in charge of the operation, Texaco produced a spill of more than 18 billion gallons of crude

• In the last three years, major accidents have taken place in the western mountain range and in the province of Esmeraldas (in the northwest of Ecuador), in most instances because of land conditions inadequate to support this structure.

The Ecuadorian government has mentioned that on some occasions the spills are the result of sabotage. To construct an oil pipeline, and for Ecuador to enter into the Plan Colombia, is to put the country at significant risk given that the Colombian guerillas have damaged the Colombian pipeline on more than 670 occasions in 10 years, with a spill of more than 2 million barrels. With these anticedents, to base the national budget nearly 50% in petroleum income is a mistake. Both proposed routes for the OCP are effected by the volcanoes Minahulca and Guagua Pichincha, and both traverse a complex system of geological faults. In Ecuador, there has not been a single decade that has not suffered natural disasters of a geological nature, and of grand magnitude, that have provoked ruptures in the petroleum infrastructure. Two proposed layouts for the pipeline are: on one side, through agricultural zones and populous neighborhoods of Quito, and on the other, through a zone of high biodiversity, such as the forests of the northwest of the province of Pichincha. This causes a conflict of interests between conservation and the survival of campesinos and of Quito´s urban populations. The political petroleum proposal of the present government is based in overdimensionalized reserves (use possible reserves), and all the present proposals, such as that of the OCP, the joint ventures, the proposal of the ITT project and the tenth round of bidding, aim at the overexploitation of hydrocarbon resources.

In governmental proposals, it is estimated that by 2025 the national government will have to import petroleum, under the assumption that the probable reserves are actual. In accordance with the petroleum reserves, in the year 2004, the minium petroleum exploitation (given that the piping will no longer be adequate) of 700,00 barrels per day are a goal that implies, in addition to overexploitation, the sacrifice of the reserves for upcoming years after just 5 years. Under these considerations, the logic of overexploitation is absolutely irrational because it entails the construction of an enormous infrastructure that after 20 years will be useless, and is going to provoke an increase in the external debt of the country or the mortaging of resources as entitlements or petroleum factoring. The construction of this infrastructure, and the petroleum extraction projects in fragile areas with vulnerable populations, will cause a grave cultural and ecological loss. With these anticedents, Acción Ecológica: • Opposes completely the construction of the OCP • Opposes the extraction of heavy crude • Opposes petroleum extraction in protected areas • Opposes the ITT project, which signifies the end of Yasuní National Park The national government, rather than sell energy sovereignty to the highest bidder, should apportion energy resources for future generations and invest in research into alternative energy sources. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE Participation of Oilwatch in the Conference of the Parts of the Climate Change Convention - COP6 The Sixth Conference of the Parts of the Convention Marks of Climate Change took place in The Hague, Netherlands, from 13 to 25 November, 2000, with the attendance of 7,000 participants and 182 governments, some 300 non-governmental organizations and more than 400 members of the communication media. The objective of this meeting was to create accords for the application of the Kyoto Protocol (signed in 1977) as reinforcement of the Climate Change Convention. The delegates attended with the intention of acquiring commitments for the reduction of greenhouse gases, taking into account, the intergovernmental panel on climate change that says that the increase in the temperature of the earth´s surface until the year 2100 will be between 1.5 °C and 6 °C and will provoke irreparable damage in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and the social and environmental impacts caused by climatical chaos.

In order to avoid the increasing and each time more intense climatical disasters, the reduction in emissions of CO2 and the other 5 greenhouse gases should be in the order of 60-80% in coming years. In The Hague, however, the discussions centered around how to avoid the Kyoto accords. According to the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries, and those with transition economies, grouped in Annex I of the signing Parties, have the foundations of three mechanisms that allow them to achieve this accord. These mechanisms are: • The system of Emissions Commerce • The Mechanisms of Clean Development that can be given between the Annex I

countries and other countries, primarily of the South. • The projects of the Implementation Congress among the Annex I countries. The following negotiation groups were present: the United States, with clear reluctance to reduce its consumption of fossil fuels and to assure that the mechanisms be as flexible as possible. The European Union maintains that any change in its countries should come with the commitments of the countries of the South. The group of countries of the Third World, arguing against sacrificing their economies, and needing to receive funds to achieve their commitments to emissions reduction. The group of environmental integrity (Switzerland, Mexico, Korea and others) maintain that the mechanisms should be very well regulated. Finally, there is the group of so-called less-developed countries (LDCS) that call for assistence for the application of the Protocol and of the Convention. After nearly two weeks of negotiations, too many points of disaccord remained between the parties and there was no real commitment of the governments of the north to reduce their emissions to levels required to save life on the planet. Among hundreds of non-governmental organizations that participated in the meeting in The Hague were those that promoted with impudence the benefits of nuclear energy as the only alternative in the face of climate change, carbon merchants, and those that camoflaged within them names such as Shell, BP, and other petroleum companies that, among other things, hotly encouraged the use of gas as the cleanest source of energy. Among parallel activities was the emphasis of a vigil and march to pay homage to the anniversary of the death of Ken Saro Wiwa and a march of solidarity for the U'wa indigenous community. Oilwatch, in conjunction with the Corporate European Observatory, Corpwatch, ERA of Nigeria, and other organizations, organized the Climatic Justice Summit on 19 and 20 November. The objective of the summit was to give a human face to the problem of climate change and to offer a platform from which the world´s popular ecologists can give testimony to the impacts occurring in their lands. At the same time, organizations that work for climatic justice, ecological debt, or for human rights were able to exchange experiences and strategies to face the problem.

3. STORIES OF THOSE WHO RESIST Testimony of a citizen of Caño Limón, Colombia (Part One) "Fourteen years ago, the company OXY entered the Caño Limón region. The sector of Caño Limón at the time of the entrance of OXY was part of the Laguna de Lipa forest reserve. Seismic prospecting was conducted in the entire area of the reserve, without legal permission from the government. What they always asserted was that the permission or the license was in transaction. Lipa lake is located in the region of intersection of the Araucan savannahs and the foothills of the eastern Colombian range. It is part of an ecosystem with a very fragile ecotone, but with a high, rich and diverse ecological productivity. The alimentation for the entire fish population of the general spawning of the Arauca river basin grows there. The destruction by the the company breaks this food chain. When the perforation and exploitation projects began, the zone was inhabited by the Guahíbo indigenous community, neighbor of the U'wa. The consequence of the petroleum complex´s enclave in the lake zone was the extinction of this indigenous community in Arauca state, along with the destruction of the natural habitat of the aquatic species found in estuaries, streams, and gallery forest in an area slightly larger than 6 thousand hectares. This destruction included the species of fish that were the source of alimentation for the Arauca community. There was also the extinction of many species of wildlife such as deer, chigüire, lapa, and armadillos, as well as many species of birds such as herons, ducks, birds of prey and semiaquatic birds such as babillas, caymans, turtles, etc. These species disappeared because the multinational corporation destroyed their ecological niche with highly toxic production waters loaded with heavy metals and toxic substances, which were dumped directly into the lake. Due to the petroleum boom in the zone, many colonists come to the lake zone looking for sources of employment. The need for wood in these locations causes the loss of many species of gallery forests and foothills, such as the ceibatorúa, cedars, pardillos, etc., wood of high commercial value, as well as species of protective and medicinal value and of alimentary use. The construction of the Saravena-Arauquita-Arauca highway impeded the flow of waters that maintained physical and chemical conveyances and that permitted the survival of animal and plant species of the zone, and destroyed, above all due to change in the oxygen content of the water, the decomposition of organic material and the ambient temperature, which was modified because the water flow was disrupted. 4. THE GOOD NEWS

Costa Rica: Petroleum Exploration Detained in Talamanca La Nación, Saturday 21 October, 2000 The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) will not continue with bidding processes for petroleum exploration in the country until the constitutional court gives the complete verdict, which left investigations into hydrocarbons in the Atlantic ineffective. According to the Viceminister of the branch, the institution is ïn limbo on the matter of petroleum exploration. This state will continue until the Fourth Court determines what was the possible error into which the Ministry fell during the assignment of search rights of four blocks for hydrocarbon exploration in Limón to the United States Company MKJ Exploration, Inc. The principal argument given relates to the noncompletion on the part of the ministry of article 15 of Agreement 169 of the OIT. This regulation obligates the state and corporations to consult indigenous groups on economic projects that could effect them. In Talamanca, where the two exploration blocks are located, this procedure did not take place. However, in the appeal by the Minister of the Environment, Elizabeth Odio, at the beginning of this month, it was argued that the MINAE did not have to comply with this protocol. The reasoning for this is that, because the investigations were conducted in the maritime zone of Moín in Puerto Limón, “a block which clearly does not include any indigenous territory.” For its part, the corporation charged with the verdict of the Fourth Court assured that its intentions to invest in the country continue to be in the works. Harken Energy is now the proprieter of 80% of the actions of MKJ Explorations, Inc. The president of the enterprise in Costa Rica is Edwin Kettenbrink. By way of an email, it is known that the company has invested $6 million in the project and in the analysis of seismic reflection. Debate for the proceedings: Criticism:

- In January of this year, more than 30 ecological organizations and tourism groups presented a constitutional appeal against the MINAE because it didn´t consult indigenous communities on the posibility of searching for petroleum in Talamanca.

- The recourse was approved on 8 September of last year and anulled the rights of the

United States company MKJ Explorations, Inc. to four exploration blocks. - According to environmental groups, the search for hydrocarbons damages the

terrestrial and marine ecosystems involved. - A second appeal was present before the Fourth Court citing negligence on the part of

the national technical environmental secretary´s office because, supposedly, it will not restrict the seismic reflection studies that were conducted in the marine block of Moín.

Defense: - The MINAE presented an appeal of explanation this month asking that the

constitutional court explain the faults that were committed during the bidding. - It argues that there wasn´t any indigenous community to consult because the

exploration took place in the ocean. - At no time was the environmental aspect neglected. Indeed, the legislation on this

point is very vast and specific in terms of the country´s natural and mineral resources. - The MINAE still has not been notified by the constitutional court n regard to the

second support appeal. 5.- PETROLEUM IN PROTECTED AREAS Bolivia: Amboro National Park The Friends of Nature Foundation (FAN) believes that seismic petroleum exploration in Amboro National Park could let loose irremediable consequences in the area and correspondingly recommends studies into the matter, urging that the Andina petroleum company revoke its decision to work there. The affirmation is based in scientific studies conducted in the area. FAN was invited by Andina to form part of a team that conducted an environmental impact study on the seismic project, but the foundation excused itself and asked in exchange to conduct an independent evaluation centering around the subject of the area´s biodiversity, a proposal which was accepted by the company. On the first page of its study, FAN states that “from an ecological and biological point of view, the best thing for the biodiversity of the park and its integrated management area

would be to not carry out the seismic exploration project.” It also warns that seismic prospection will attract third parties to the park. Andina is one of the companies that has benefitted from the capitalization processes of the state petroleum company YPFB. Amboro National Park is located in the central part of Bolivia, in the subandean zone of the Eastern Range of the Andes, in Santa Cruz state. It is at 400 meters above sea level at its lowest part and at 3000 meters above sea level at its highest part, a characteristic which permits the coexistence of various life zones and phytogeographic refuges such as yungas, Chaco and Amazonia, which reflects the area´s biodiversity. The reserve is found in one of the refuges of the Pleistocene in which there are many endemic species, many of whom are in danger of extinction. Source and information: Fanoticias 6 – October 18, 2000 E-mail: amunoz@fan-bo.org 6.- FROM THE NEWS INDONESIA : FISHERMEN EMPLOYED TO CLEAN UP OIL SPILL JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities plan to hire some 500 fishermen in efforts to clean up an oil spill from a tanker which ran aground just south of Singapore, an official said yesterday. A spokesman for the mayor’s office on Batam Island, Riau province, said the fishermen are needed to help fight pollution from the MT Natuna Sea tanker, which hit a reef in the Malacca Strait early this month. The Panamanian-registered Singaporean-owned tanker, which was carrying 40,400 tons of crude oil to China from Syria, had been trying to avoid a tugboat. The reef tore a hole in its hull, spilling 7,000 metric tons (2 million gallons) of oil into the waters off Batam, just south of Singapore. The spokesman said the fishermen’s involvement was suggested by the owners of the Natuna Sea at a meeting with Batam Mayor Nazief Susilo Dharma on Tuesday. He said the cost of the clean-up operation, including the provision of equipment, would be charged to the tanker’s owners. The 500 fishermen would be paid Rp40,000 (US$4.50) per day. Reports yesterday quoted Dharma as saying the Natuna Sea would not be allowed to leave until the owners had compensated the local population for losses due to the pollution. Meanwhile in Singaporean waters, authorities kept up efforts to clean up the spill.

Reconnaissance showed “small broken patches of oil in the Eastern Anchorage and Sisters Fairway” as of 7:30 a.m., the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. Singapore authorities dispatched 37 anti-pollution craft to clean these areas, it said, adding most of Singapore’s waters remained generally clear. The transfer of oil still on board the Natuna Sea to another tanker was expected to be completed by nightfall, the port authority said. The Natuna Sea ran aground October 3 in Indonesian waters about eight kilometers southeast of Singapore. None of the 32 people on board, who were from India, the Philippines and Europe, were injured. The ship was en route from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to China. Beach clean-up operations continued yesterday on islands south of Singapore, including Sentosa, St John’s Island and Sisters’ Island. Thursday, October 12, 2000 REUTERS NEWS SERVICE INDONESIA: SIX GUNMEN HIJACK, BURN MOBIL OIL BUSES IN ACEH JAKARTA (IO) — Six gunmen hijacked four buses of a US-owned oil company in restive Aceh province and later set three of them ablaze, police were quoted yesterday by Antara as saying. Superintendent Abadan Bangko, a local police officer, said the buses belonging to Exxon Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc. were empty except for their drivers, who were allowed to flee unharmed after the attack on Monday. The hijacked buses were on their way to pick up company staff to take them to work, he said. Banko said the armed men, suspected of being separatist rebels, set on fire three of the buses and skedaddled in the fourth. Exxon Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc., owned by Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., exports natural gas from Aceh. Its operations are frequently hampered due to clashes between security forces and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). It was the latest violence after Jakarta and GAM leaders prolonged a truce until January 15 in Switzerland on Sunday. More than100 people have been killed since the ceasefire, which was signed on May12, came into effect on June 2.

The separatist group has been waging war against Indonesian rule for more than 25 years. More than 5,500 people have perished in the fighting, most of them reportedly killed by Indonesian troops. In New York, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch warned that the Indonesian government’s failure to address the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Aceh will lead to a huge increase in human rights violations. “Abductions, torture, and unlawful killings are taking place on a daily basis throughout Aceh. Civilian authority has all but collapsed, and no one in Jakarta seems to be paying serious attention to human rights issues there,” the two organizations said in a press statement picked up by Antara. “Indonesia’s financial donors already have the problems in East Nusa Tenggara on the agenda for their annual meeting in October; they urgently need to add Aceh,” the statement said. The two leading international human rights monitoring organizations called for the immediate suspension of any members of the police or military, including commanders, suspected of involvement in, tolerating, or condoning human rights violations. Analysts say the military would suddenly become pretty small if that happened. The rights groups called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry, consisting of human rights experts, to investigate recent violations and for suspects to be brought to justice in trials which meet international standards for fairness. The groups noted that frequent attacks by GAM on Indonesian military and police targets presented legitimate security concerns for the government, but the response of the security forces was counterproductive. “Protecting human rights is an essential prerequisite to finding a durable solution to the conflict in Aceh. The targeting of respected civilians is only going to intensify resentment of central government rule and increase instability,” the statement said. The two organizations urged both sides to uphold their commitments to protect humanitarian workers and to extend this commitment to ensure human rights protection for all civilians in Aceh. Wednesday, September 27, 2000 JAKARTA POST NIGERIA: OIL BLAZE KILLS 50 A fuel pipeline blaze has killed more than 50 people in a fishing village near the Nigerian city of Lagos. Some of the victims, including children, were caught in billowing flames as they were scooping up petrol from the leaking pipeline. An explosion ripped through the fractured

pipeline near Ebute-Oko, a fishing village opposite the central business district of Lagos across a lagoon. Nearby huts and wooden houses were engulfed by the fire. Many of the dead were reported to be fishermen burned alive in their dugout canoes. Pipeline tragedies Injured people were evacuated from the area by boat as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze. Villagers said the pipeline, operated by the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had been leaking for nearly two months. The incident is just the latest in a string of oil pipeline tragedies that have hit Nigeria in the past two years. "There are dozens of bodies, more than 50," said Marine Police Officer Edward Agwale. The cause of the blaze is not known, but a spokesman for the state oil company blamed it on the activities of people he described as fuel thieves. Witnesses quoted by Reuters news agency said the fire was ignited by a wood stove where a woman was cooking in the open. The pipeline lies near Atlas Cove, the main loading centre for fuel imported into Nigeria. Oil thefts Some oil leaks are caused by poor maintenance, but others occur after pipelines are deliberately punctured and the leaking fuel is siphoned off. There is a thriving black market in fuel. Nigeria is Africa's top oil exporter, but often faces shortages of refined products. Many of Nigeria's pipeline fires have been in the Niger Delta region, which accounts for most of Nigeria's crude production of over two million barrels a day. In July, at least 250 people died when fuel exploded at a pipeline near Warri DISTRIBUTED BY ERA NIGERIA: CHILDREN DIE AFTER PLAYING IN OIL; TOXIC CHEMICAL SUSPECTED LAGOS, Dec 8 (AFP) - Eight children and a woman have died after contact with an oil slick off the coast of Nigeria, possibly due to toxic chemicals in the oil, officials said Friday. Some of the children had apparently been playing in the oil, which washed up on a beach near the settlement of Akassa, in Bayelsa State, on December 1 and 2.

A local official in the area said the main oil company operating in there was Texaco, a US firm. Mike Weeks, the coordinator of environmental group Pro-Natura International, earlier toldthat nine people from two villages, eight of them children and one woman, had died, apparently after coming into contact with the slick, he said. Oil industry experts Friday declined to comment publicly on the incident but suggested the slick might have contained toxic chemicals or chemicals used for cleaning out oil tanks. Forensic tests were being carried out at a laboratory in Port Harcourt on traces of the slick washed ashore at the villages, Weeks said. A spokesman for Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyseigha toldTexaco was the only major operator in the area where the oil slick was reported last week. "We cannot be certain for now, but it seems most likely it was from Texaco," the spokesman said by telephone from the state capital, Yenagoa. Two oil companies, US group Texaco and a Nigerian group called Consolidated, operate in the area from which the slick appeared to have come, the Bayelsa spokesman said, adding no-one could say for now who was responsible. Pro-Natura runs a major development and environmental development project at Akassa and Weeks said its workers there had confirmed nine deaths but said locals reported more had since died. He said a first group of five children died on December 1 when they came into contact the slick as they were playing in the shallow waters off the beach, Weeks said. The group started vomiting within minutes and died as they tried to return to their village, he said. Another three children and a woman in a neighbouring village died the next day also after contact with the slick, he added. A report in the newspaper This Day Friday said its correspondent had seen dead fish floating in the water and lizards lying dead on the beach. As well as being populated by people, the area is considered an area of great natural beauty and environmental importance with a large population of rare turtles. A spokesman for Texaco's Nigerian arm, Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company, was unavailable for comment on Friday. 12/08/2000 Agence France-Presse PERU: ARGENTINE BOAT SPILLS OIL IN PERUVIAN JUNGLE RIVER Lima, Peru - A boat carrying some 7,000 barrels of crude oil for Pluspetrol, the Argentine-owned firm that is Peru's biggest oil group, spilled a ``considerable'' amount of oil into a river in the northern Peruvian jungle, the government said on Wednesday.

``It is not yet possible to determine the volume of oil spilled into the River Maranon since part of the 7,000 barrels being transported on the vessel had been transferred to another boat,'' the Energy and Mines Ministry said in a statement. But it said that ``the information we have suggests it is a considerable quantity of crude.'' It said the spill occurred around 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Tuesday and may have been triggered by a collision. The Maranon is a tributary of the Amazon and the area is remote and largely unspoiled. Pluspetrol said in a separate statement the company ``has begun a contingency plan envisaged in such cases.'' It gave no details and did not say how much oil had been spilled. Pluspetrol operates in Peru's Lote 8 oilfield in the department of Loreto, some 810 km (506 miles) northeast of Lima, the Peruvian capital. The ministry said there were no immediate reports of injuries in the incident. Peru produces an average of 101,000 barrels of crude a day. Pluspetrol, Argentina's third-biggest gas producer, is also part of a consortium which won a development contract for the huge Camisea natural gas field in Peru's southern jungle. (Reuters) October, 4th 2000 7.- OIL IN THE TROPICS Mexico Mexico is one of the countries with the greatest hydrocarbon production among tropical countries and the second in Latin America. Petroleum activity is a state monopoly, although there is study of ways to open possibilities for investment in exploration and exploitation of petroleum to the international private sector. There is study of the models used in Venezuela and Brazil, as well as in the Middle East. Among the plans of study is the creation of an energy regulative agency such as exists in Brazil. Pemex, the state petroleum enterprise, is Mexico´s largest company and one of the ten largest in the world in terms of income assets. With its basis in the level of reserves and its capacity for extraction and refining it is among the five most important petroleum companies in the world. The activities of Pemex comprise the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, including the production, storage, distribution and commercialization of petroleum products and petrochemicals. In virtue of conformity with Mexican legislation, as these activities correspond exclusively to the state, Pemex is a decentralized public body. Pemex conducts its operations through a corporate entity and four subsidiary bodies: Pemex exploitation and production has in its charge the exploration for and exploitation

of petroleum and natural gas. Pemex refining produces, distributes and commercializes combustibles and other petroleum products. Pemex gas and basic petrochemicals processes natural gas and natural gas liquids; distributes and commercializes natural gas and gas liquated from petroleum; and produces and commercializes basic petrochemical products. With the formal initiation of operations, beginning on 2 June, of the first module of four that form a nitrogen producing plant located on the Atasta peninsula, Campeche, Pemex exploration and production will fortify the productive capacity of Cantarell, the most imporant Mexican oil field, asserted engineer José Antonio Ceballos Soberanis, director general of Pemex exploration and production. The normal operation of the first module of the nitrogen plant will allow Pemex exploration and production to inject a daily average of 300 million cubic feet of nitrogen. It is specified that the injection of nitrogen will take place by means of a platform situated next to the Akal C complex by five shafts through which two 36-inch diameter ducts will conduct the nitrogen from the separation and compression plant. The three remaining modules that comprise the plant will begin operation during the months of June and July of this year. Through international public bidding, private businesses were convened to present proposals for the provision of one thousand two hundred million cubic feet daily of this gas, that would contracted for the next 15 years. The winner of the concourse was the integrated consortium of the companies Boc Holdings of Great Britain, Westcoast Energy of Canada, Marubeni Corporation of Japan, Linde of Germany, and Ica-fluor Daniel of Mexico and the United States, that initiated the construction of a nitrogen production plant on 30 hectares of property located on the peninsula of Atasta, Campeche. The nitrogen will be sent to the Cantrell field, situated on Campeche Sound, through two nitrogen ducts more than 80 kilometers in length, one constructed by Pemex exploration and production. Pemex Gas and Basic Petrochemicals initiated the Reynosa integrated project that includes the construction of two cryogenic plants of 200 million cubic feet of natural gas each per day, and a storage and distribution terminal with a capacity of 50 thousand barrels in the Burgos basin, to produce 11 thousand barrels daily of liquated gas from petroleum, eight thousand three hundred barrels per day of gasoline and 380 million cubic feet daily of natural gas for domestic and industrial use. To realize this project, Pemex gas and basic petrochemicals called for international public bidding requiring the consideration of a national content of at least 35 percent of capital goods.

According to the execution program, it is estimated that the project will begin in November of this year, the operation of the first plant in December of the year 2001 and the second during the third trimester of 2002. Chad The petroleum industry of Chad has become an important sector of the economy of that country. It does not currently produce petroleum, but discoveries of oil fields suggest the possibility of drilling of 300 shafts in the Doba region and the production of 150,000 barrels of crude per day. The zone of the new petroleum project is found in terrain irrigated by the Pandé River and its tributaries, the Loule and the Nya. The vegetation is savannah bush as well as traditional crops (cotton, sorghum, mojo, arachide, yucca, and various legumes and shrubs). A large portion of the land is swampy. There are also forested regions. Chad´s economic base is agriculture, cotton being the principle agricultural product for exportation. The development of the new oil fields completely relies on the construction of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. The estimated reserves are one thousand million barrels. Besides three oil fields with approximately 300 shafts, the project also includes 3 storage stations, a treatment station, an electrical center, a landing strip, workers camps, construction of 500 km of roads, 3 fire stations and 170 km of oil pipeline (1050 km is the total from the port and maritime terminus in Cameroon). Petroleum exploration in Chad began in the '70s in the Doba region and in the Lake Chad basin by the Chevron, Conoco, ExxonMobil and Shell consortium. In the Lake region the fields are the Sedigi, Kanem and Kumia and in the Doba region the principal ones are Miandoum and Kome. The explorative work was suspended due to the civil war initiated in 1979. After the withdrawal of Conoco from the country, Exxon took charge of operations and discovered the Bolobo field in 1989. Chevron sold its participation to Elf Aquitaine in 1993. Chad´s principle reserves are found in four sedimentary basins in the south of the country, and in a small basin to the north of Lake Chad. Since 1996, all hydrocarbon activity has been concentrated in the construction of the oil pipeline that runs from Chad to the coast of Cameroon. This project carries a cost of 3,500 million dollars. The pipeline project has been delayed in its execution due to financial problems, as well as pressure on the part of national and international organizations. The Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline will transport 150,000 to 250,000 barrels of crude daily from the Kome, Miandoum and Bolobo fields. Of the 3,700 million dollars that the pipeline costs, the World Bank will provide 93 million (53.4 million for Cameroon and 39.5 million for Chad). 100 million is a credit

from the IFC (International Finance Corporation) to the companies that form the Joint Venture for the construction of the pipeline. Additionally, the IFC will mobilize 300 million dollars in credits from commercial banks. The remaining sum will come from the consortium companies, credit agencies and, possibly, bonds. The development of the project in Doba, including the pipeline, has revived interest in the Sedigi project as well as in the Lake Chad region, whose reserves are approximately 150 million high quality barrels. This project includes the construction of secondary ducts that will carry the petroleum to the new N'Djamena refinery. Other exploration activies have continued apart from the Doba project. In 1999, three companies, Trinity Gas and Carlton Energy of the United States as well as Nigerian Oriental Energy Resources, signed an accord with the government of Chad to explore the 430,000 km2 Block H. The Population: The southern region of Chad is populated by the Saras, Massas, Mundanis and Hakkas communities, which are primarily agricultural. The project zone contains a population of aproximately 28,000 inhabitants, belonging to the Bero, Komé, and Miandoum districts. The regions of Timberi, Gadjibian, Bessao, Mont de Lam and Mbassay are in the trajectory zone of the pipeline. Totalling all the districts gives a population of approximately 68,000 people. The pipeline will cross 64 villages. Chad is a country primarily of desert, and the Doba region is one of the few cultivatable regions of the country and the source of food for the majority of the country´s 7 million inhabitants. In Chad, the project is found close to the Timberi Forest Reserve and the Laramanay Wildlife Reserve. Beyond the loss of biodiversity and a large forest surface due to the petroleum project, many illnesses such as cholera, malaria, meningitis, tuberculosis, typhoid, and yellow fever will recrudesce, among other social and environmental impacts. The rural organizations of the EPOZOP (Entente des Populations de la Zone Petroliére) and various NGOs have organized for the first time to solicit information on the project due to the extreme secretism which surrounds it.. EPOZOP ecompasses the population of nine affected districts as well as that of six others through which the pipeline will travel. Once the information was obtained, an extensive information and consciencitization campaign about the social and environmental impacts of the petroleum companies was begun. Thanks to these actions a 5-year suspension of these activities has been achieved. Cambodia The gas and petroleum sector in Cambodia has been relatively inactive in recent years. There have not been any new licenses auctioned, nor has there been any drilling.

Although production contracts have not been signed, the Woodside Petroleum company is carrying out geological and geophysical studies in blocks 1,2,3,4 and 7 in the Gulf of Thailand. Border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand continue in a region where there are believed to be hydrocarbon reserves, especially gas, however, given that in both countries there is overproduction of gas, at the moment there isn´t any incentive to resolve this border conflict. On the other hand, Harrods Energy is negotiating with the Cambodian government to explore the Tonle Sap block, one of the possibly important blocks of the country. It is said that seismic studies will begin in two large, deep, subterranean structures that may contain important gas and petroleum reserves. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. is an Australian company dedicated to petroleum discovery and production. The company has interests in Australia and Papau New Guinea as well. 8.- BEYOND THE TROPICS Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea, being an interior sea, is a biome of utmost fragility. On the other side, the new independent republics, rich in petroleum and gas, have very weak and elaborate regulatory systems, in many cases as a result of those same petroleum companies. In the last few years, this region has become an important actor in the hydrocarbon sector due especially to important reserves existing in Azerbaijan and Kazakstan. The region is also favored because of the economic crisis in Southeast Asia. It is believed that among the principle producers in the Caspian region: Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Turkmenistan and possibly Uzbekistan, reserves could be 27 billion barrels of petroleum and 243 billion cubic centimeters of gas, to which should be added the reserves existing on the Russian and Iranian coasts of the Caspian. As a consequence, the region has become filled with oil and gas pipelines. The principal duct systems are: Iran and Turkmenistan have constructed a 200 km gas pipeline that connects the Korpedzhe oil fields and the Turkmenistan coast of the Caspian with Kurt-kui in Iran where it joins with that country´s principal gas pipeline. This line will join later with a duct that will carry gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey. The duct will run from Erzarum to Ankara where it will join with another that will carry gas to Bulgaria and Russia. Another duct system will run from Sangachali, south of the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to the Black Sea at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

The other system is a secondary line that carries crude from Sangachali, Azerbaijan to the Kura valley in Georgia and from there to Supsa on the Black Sea. 9.- THE NIGER DELTA’S ANSWER TO ATIKU’S THREAT – A PSALM Deliver us from our enemies O our God Defend us from those who rise up against us Deliver us from the workers of iniquity And save us from bloodthirsty men. For look, they lie in wait for our lives The mighty gather against us Not for our transgression nor for our sins, O Lord But because we want control of the resources you gave us. Forty years they have stolen from us Yet they are not satisfied Forty years they robbed the widows that they created They have killed the young men so that none should rise up They have polluted the land and the water We can neither farm nor fish. Now they have made an alliance with the powerful To obtain weapons and training Not to enthrone righteousness, nor to glorify Your name Not to establish justice, but to intimidate and suppress They run and prepare themselves through no fault of ours They have said to themselves Who can stop us? Awake to help us and behold: You therefore O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel Awake to punish all the nations Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. At evening they return They growl like a dog And go all around the nation Indeed they belch with their mouth Swords are in their lips For they say, “Who hears?” They poured concrete on the desert sand And planted a seed, and said it will not grow. But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them You shall have all the oppressors in derision.

We will wait for You, O You our strength For God is our defense Our God of mercy shall come to meet us God shall let us see our desire on our enemies Do not slay them, lest our people forget Scatter them by Your power And bring them down O Lord our shield. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips Let them be taken in their pride. And for the cursing and lying which they speak Consume them in wrath, consume them That they may not be. But we will sing of Your power Yes, we will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning For You have been our defense And refuge in the day of our trouble To You O our strength, we sing praises For God is our defense Our God of mercy Forgive us our sins in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The People of Nigeria.