Oil dispute resolved

Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe have resolved a dispute over the sharing of oil resources in the Gulf of Guinea, officials said on Thursday. A statement issued by a Joint Development Authority (JDA) set up by the two countries said disagreements over the implementation of a 2001 treaty were settled at a meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on 6 February. Under the original treaty Nigeria was to have total rights over Oil Block 246, considered the most prolific in the Joint Development Zone shared by the two countries. In exchange, Sao Tome was to receive 10,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 250 scholarships, and have an oil refinery and a deep water port built for it. Oil produced in the rest of the joint zone was to be split 60:40 in Nigeria's favour. Following his election last year, President Federico de Menezes expressed reservations about the deal and sought a renegotiation of its terms. This resulted in the suspension of the award of oil blocks, which was to have been done in October last year. Revenue from all the oil blocks will now be shared by the two countries. "The two parties mutually resolved that...the revenue to be derived be shared on the basis of 60/40 as contained in the treaty," Sam Dimka, spokesman of the JDA, said. With the new agreement, the allocation of oil blocks will now begin in May, he said. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country - 120 million inhabitants - is also the continent's biggest oil producer, with a production capacity of three million barrels per day. Sao Tome, an Atlantic Ocean archipelago with 130,000 people, is the latest African country to join the league of oil producers.