Cameroon: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh On “Firefighting” Mission To Chad

By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_105967" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh with Chadian leader Mahamat Idriss Deby .Ngoh Ngoh says the fence mending mission yielded dividends[/caption] BUEA, April 27, 2023 – Cameroon's Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh says "Some misunderstandings have been cleared and there is no cloud on the relations between Cameroon and Chad." Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh was speaking after meeting the President of Chad's Transitional Military Council Mahamat Idriss Deby  on April 26, following a “firefighting” mission to the country following a diplomatic row. According to him, the two leaders are “ready to continue to work to strengthen these relations for the good of their states and peoples.” The diplomatic row between the two countries follows the sale by Exxon Mobil of its oil assets in both countries to Savannah Energy, Reuters reported. Chad then recalled its ambassador to neighboring Cameroon in protest of the deal. Exxon closed the sale of its operations in Chad and Cameroon to Africa-focused oil and gas producer Savannah in a $407 million deal in December. But the Chadian government has challenged the agreement saying the final terms of the deal were different from what had been presented to it.  Chad has nationalized the assets on its side of the border, including Exxon’s share of the over 1,000 km (621 miles) Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, APA reported. “Chad finds itself once again in the obligation to defend its interests and its respectability and denounces the repeated actions of Cameroon and its representatives which undermine relations between the two countries,” Chad said in a statement. Savannah Energy has said it will pursue its legal rights over Chad's decision to nationalize Exxon's assets it had acquired. The company said on Wednesday that it had sold a 10% stake of the share capital of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company which owns and operates the 903 km Cameroon section of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to Cameroon national oil company (SNH). According to the deal, Cameroon's SNH will pay a cash consideration of $44.9 million to Savannah Energy. Chad said in its statement that it was not informed of this sale which was contrary to the status of the pipeline company. This acquisition will bring SNH’s interest in Cotco to 15.17% and reduce Savannah’s to 30.06%. The other shareholders: Malaysian Petronas (29.77% via Doha Pipeline Investment Inc), the Chadian government (2.74%), and the Chadian hydrocarbons company (21.26%) will keep their shares unchanged. On December 9, 2022, Savannah Energy announced it had acquired the shares the American multinational ExxonMobil had in Chad and Cameroon. An acquisition strongly vetoed by Chadian authorities. Despite this opposition, the deal was made in “violation of the Doba Consortium, Esso, Petronas, Chad hydrocarbons company [SHT] hydrocarbon exploration, exploitation and transportation agreements of 1988 and 2004," according to a Chadian government press release.