‘Pact gives us access to potential oil zone’ |30 January 2013

Chief executive Eddy Belle of PetroSeychelles said this during the recent three-day workshop in which a team from the US shared their views on how we can get the most from our hydrocarbons.

“The area is thought to be rich in hydrocarbons but falls outside the exclusive economic zones of both Seychelles and Mauritius,” said Mr Belle.

He said each of the two countries could claim the zone as an extension of its continental shelf.
“As long as Seychelles and Mauritius argued who owns that area, the UN would never look at either country’s claim or submission,” he said.

“There was a deadline for countries to submit their submissions beyond which the whole area would have gone to the enterprise – which is the UN – which would have taken care of, and managed it.

“So Seychelles and Mauritius got together and said: ‘rather than just sit and argue who owns it, why don’t we get together and make a joint claim?’”

He said the proposal was acted on and “the UN has agreed that the 400,000 square kilometre area – which is quite extensive – now becomes the joint zone of both Mauritius and Seychelles “and we can now start exploring for oil there”.