"It's hard not to feel a little sympathy for Mr. Buckee -- not to mention Talisman shareholders"
Talisman deep in Sudan quagmire
The Globe & Mail, Monday, November 1
MATHEW INGRAM
Calgary -- There's no question Talisman Energy Inc. chief executive
officer Jim Buckee likes a good fight -- that much is clear from his
politically incorrect stance on global warming. But with Talisman's
investment in Sudan, he finds himself in the middle of a major
donnybrook, one that has him fighting not just well-meaning social
activists but the foreign-policy machinery of Canada and the United
States. Mr. Buckee had better dig in -- this one could turn into a
marathon.
Bigger fighters than Mr. Buckee have already thrown in the towel on
this play. It's worth remembering that Talisman's Sudan oil field was first
developed by Chevron in the 1970s, at a cost of more than $1-billion
(U.S.), but the U.S. firm decided the long-running civil war in the
country made continued investment too risky, and it sold out in 1984.
The property changed hands a few times before ending up with tiny
Arakis Energy of Calgary, which flamed out in a spectacular way and
was eventually taken over by Talisman last year.
Now U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Canadian Foreign
Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy have joined the fray, criticizing
Talisman's dealings with the Islamic military regime that controls Sudan
and muttering about possible economic sanctions. Rather than tell both
governments to stuff it, which he no doubt would prefer to do, Mr.
Buckee has wisely chosen the conciliatory route -- saying Talisman will
help if it can.
Obviously, Talisman knew it was getting into bed with a powder keg
when it got involved in Sudan: The country has been at war with itself
for decades, if not centuries, and is a regular contestant in the
foreign-aid hotspot-of-the-week sweepstakes. Nevertheless, it's hard
not to feel a little sympathy for Mr. Buckee -- not to mention Talisman
shareholders, who have watched their stock's value deteriorate rapidly
over the past few months because of the company's Sudan involvement.
After all, oil companies are involved in lots of troubled countries:
Canadian Occidental's properties in Yemen produce a large chunk of
that country's revenue, and rebels have been fighting there for years.
Outrage over Sudan ignores the fact that Western governments support
a brutal regime in China -- or that U.S. sanctions against Sudan make
exceptions for gum arabic (Sudan accounts for 80 per cent of the
world's supply), which is used in everything from soda pop and beer to
cosmetics and printer's ink.
Christian missionary groups in particular have targeted Talisman to try
and raise awareness of Sudan. Why? Because the southern part of the
country is largely Christian, while the northern regime that controls the
government is Muslim. These missionaries are continuing a crusade that
dates back to the 1800s, when Britain sent famed commander "Chinese
Charles" Gordon to fight the "whirling dervishes" of an Islamic leader
known as the Mahdi.
The problem with Sudan is that it is a complicated nation, and even
trying to boil it down to Muslim versus Christian fails to capture the
reality. Aid groups have criticized Mr. Buckee for dismissing tales of
slavery and pillaging as "tribal warfare," but there is a real basis for such
comments. There is a long and tortured history of fighting among the
country's more than 300 tribes, dozens of religious groups and two main
regions -- the dry, desert-like north and the lush, rainy south -- that
goes back centuries.
One of the reasons why the current fighting in Sudan has continued for
the past 16 years, even before general Omar Bashir's national Islamic
front took control in 1989, is that leaders of the rebels and the
pro-government militia keep changing sides. In 1991, the most
well-known split occurred when several rebel leaders -- including one
warlord who now helps protect Talisman's oil fields and pipeline from
his former comrades -- left the Sudanese people's liberation army
(SPLA) and joined up with the government.
One of the main rebel groups active in the north is a former leader of a
pro-government militia, who rejoined the SPLA in May, and just last
month a key lieutenant with another pro-government brigade also
returned to the rebels. One infamous tribal warlord who regularly
brutalized his own people, Kerubino Kuanyen, jumped sides with
abandon: He started out as a rebel, then joined the pro-government
militia, then sided with the rebels again. Last month, he was killed --
reportedly assassinated by a rival rebel leader.
Even the peace talks Ms. Albright supports have been delayed by
dissension. One rebel leader, John Garang -- who has a degree in
agricultural economics from Iowa State University -- backs one set of
peace talks favoured by the United States, primarily because it doesn't
involve any hostile Arab countries. That process is aimed at either a
democratic and non-religious Sudan, or secession by the south. But
other opposition groups reject the idea of secession and support an
alternate set of talks involving Libya and Egypt (to which Sudan has
historic ties), aimed at an Arab-led accord for a united Sudan.
Should oil companies stay out of politically sensitive and ethically
questionable places such as Sudan? It would be nice if they could -- but
unfortunately, that's where a lot of the world's oil happens to be.
Companies such as Talisman shouldn't knowingly help finance slavery
and murder, obviously, but neither should they be expected to sort out
ethnic and religious battles that were already old when Churchill was in
grade school. |
