Gambia Signs Oil-Rights Accord with Camac Energy, GRTS Says

Gambia and U.S.-based Camac Energy Inc. (CAK) signed a contract for the exploration and production of offshore oil, state-run media said, in the West African country’s first agreement of its kind with a foreign company.

The government selected Camac from among three explorers shortlisted for drilling rights at Gambia’s A2 and A5 concessions, the oil ministry said in a statement broadcast yesterday over state-owned radio and GRTS television. Camac, with headquarters in Houston, has operations in Nigeria and, through subsidiaries, in China.

The company will work closely with Gambia National Petroleum Corp. and the oil ministry, an unidentified Camac official who signed the agreement said from Lagos, Nigeria, according to the ministry. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh assured Camac of a conducive working environment and said the government wants “a mutually rewarding partnership.”

Gambia, with a population of about 1.8 million people, is the smallest country in mainland Africa. Its economic growth may be “slightly negative” this year because of crop failure and anticipated lower tourism revenue, the International Monetary Fund said on March 6.

To contact the reporter on this story: Suwaibou Touray in Banjul via Accra at ebowers1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.