Allerede skeptisk til at Cattaneos firma er det riktige valget for Tilapia-tillatelsen (Africa Intelligence, 17.08.20), ser hydrokarbonsjefen nå mer usannsynlig enn noensinne ut til å plassere sin tro på Zenith, hvis "falske erklæringer og uregelmessige metoder" ikke er etter hennes syn bidrar til "et sunt fremtidig samarbeid basert på tillit".


Relations have never been tenser between the hydrocarbons director Teresa Goma and Canadian junior Zenith Energy, which has been vying to take over the Tilapia oil permit for several months. Though discussions seemed to have got off to a good start (Africa Intelligence, 05/01/21), recent statements in the media by Zenith's Italian boss Andrea Cattaneo prompted "incredulity and distress" on the part of Goma.
In a missive (in French) to Cattaneo dated 15 February that Africa Intelligence has seen, the hydrocarbons director lambasted Zenith's "completely unfounded PR manipulations" and reproached the firm for announcing to the media "the supposed allocation" of the Tilapia permit, stressing that to date "no document has been signed by the Congolese authorities to award the permit" to the company.

Zenith shoots itself in the foot
Five days earlier, Zenith had issued a press release to vaunt the public utility review conducted by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to evaluate its capacity to carry out upstream operations. It announced into the bargain its desire to proceed with the "finalisation and potential ratification of the production sharing agreement" for Tilapia.

In her scathing reply, Goma points out that the review makes no reference to this permit and claims that investigations also threw up several missing elements, including the absence of a bank guarantee provided by Zenith's parent company and of legal documents proving the connection between Canoel Italia (the Congolese subsidiary visited by review panel) and Zenith Energy.

Already sceptical about Cattaneo's firm being the right choice for the Tilapia permit (Africa Intelligence, 17/08/20), the hydrocarbons boss now looks more unlikely than ever to place her faith in Zenith, whose "false declarations and irregular methods" are not in her view conducive to "a healthy future collaboration based on trust".

Contacted prior to publication, Zenith Energy replied late on the evening of 17 February, through their lawyer Alexandre Mennucci (August Debouzy law firm). The latter claims his client "never received such a letter". On the other hand, Africa Intelligence confirmed with the DGH the authenticity of the letter.

Lykke til.