Sudan's oilfields in ethical tar pit - Calgary Sun, December 10
The snow-capped Rockies are a long way from the Sudanese flood plains,
but from one Calgary high-rise yesterday, I got a pointed view of both.
Column by SYDNEY SHARPE -- Calgary Sun
To understand Talisman Energy's terrible tangle in central Sudan, I turn to
two concerned people who attack the problem from different angles.
Martin Molyneaux, ace analyst with FirstEnergy Capital, has recently
returned from Talisman's Sudan tour.
Linda Slobodian, ace Sun journalist, has won awards for her reporting from Sudan.
Sudan's civil war has raged for 16 years, where a dictatorship fuelled by northern Islamic
fundamentalists threatens to liquidate the predominately Christian south.
Add to this malaise centuries-old tribal conflicts and you get the most barbaric of
atrocities.
Stuck in the middle is Talisman Energy, which owns a 25% stake in one of the richest oil
finds in recent times, a mammoth pool under the mud of the flood plains. The prize is
billions of dollars, but at what price?
"What you can't carry off, you kill," Slobodian says of the marauders who terrorize
innocent tribal peoples trying to live off their land.
"I saw scars on people redeemed from slavery and I saw their dead eyes. You're dealing
with the devil and sometimes the devil can be on both sides."
Molyneaux describes the high-tech oilfields development that he saw, with nary a burning
hut in sight.
He doesn't accept that at face value. He wants answers. Molyneaux wonders why U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright berates Talisman for investing in Sudan, but leaves
its Chinese and Malaysian partners relatively unscathed.
This is a lesson in geopolitics, where it is much easier to pressure friends and allies rather
than potential foes.
So Molyneaux is putting much of his faith in External Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy's
envoy to Sudan, John Harker, who expects to report early in the new year.
"Are we better off being in Sudan or not?" Molyneaux asks of Talisman's position. "The
reservoir is massive and will bring billions into the (Sudanese) economy."
Slobodian grimaces over the power that all that oil revenue will give the government. "This
scares the hell out of me. If this government in Sudan is so noble, why is it bombing
hospitals and villages? Why is it using chemical warfare?" she says.
Molyneaux sighs and stares out towards the mountains. "You live and breathe in Calgary
and you can't count your blessings enough," he replies.
"I want to be proactive rather than bury this thing as dirty laundry. I hope our government
takes that approach. I think we should have people on the ground. I think we should care
more about this."
As an anthropologist, I had always dreamed of visiting the Nuer of Sudan. They were a
proud herding people whose very name struck fear into any encroaching visitors.
Now they are the vanquished, terrorized and driven from their traditional lands by the
government, all because they herd too close to Talisman's fields.
It has to stop -- and some of the best people in Calgary are searching for ways.
In this ethical morass, the answer lies far beyond the siren song of oil profits.
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