Minority Spokesperson on Energy, K.T Hammond is confident that the Ivory Coast government’s latest lawsuit seeking to stop Tullow Oil and its partners from exploring oil over the disputed area between Ghana and that country will prove fruitless.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Eyewitness News\u00a0<\/strong>K.T Hammond said:\u00a0\u201cI am confident …that ultimately the Ivorian case will be fruitless,\u201d and described the actions of the Ivorian government as “hypocritical.”<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”LlKrByauCZ65rmlNUGSGiPECTKgc8g0v”]He wondered why the Ivorians were \u201cup in arms\u201d when both parties had signed a mutual agreement to explore oil in the disputed area.<\/p>\n \u201cOil exploration started along those areas so many years ago. The Ivorians were involved with their parts of waters and we were dealing with their parts of waters.It is a mutual agreement between the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed out that \u00a0\u201cthere will be some implications\u201d if what the \u00a0Ivorians are asking for has \u201cany merit\u201d and \u201cthe court tribunal is minded to grant it.\u201d<\/p>\n K.T Hammond revealed that government has \u201cgone through the international arbitration process and has invited Ghana to make a firm position on the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Ghana commenced an arbitration process in 2014 before a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, seeking a declaration that it has not encroached on Ivory Coast\u2019s territorial waters in the exploration of oil after a series of failed negotiations.<\/p>\n Tullow Oil plc on Monday in a statement said it was confident, based on advice from external legal advisors that Ghana had a strong case and that oil production would continue as scheduled.<\/p>\n “The decision on this application for provisional measures should be handed down before the end of April 2015,\u201d the statement also revealed.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n