Bonnie: Thanks for the additional info.
Here's what I've been able to find so far while researching STP:
I could find no good maps on the internet which showed STP in it's relation to the African coast. So I had to do it the old-fashioned way and use a world atlas at the library. Sao Tome is separated from Principe by about 150km (all distances are approximate, as I was measuring them on a map). Sao Tome is about 275km west of Gabon, and Principe is about 225km west of Equitorial Guinea. About 200km NE of Principe is the island Boiko, belonging to Eq. Guinea. About 175km SW of Sao Tome is the island Annobon, also belonging to Eq. Guinea. Annobon, Sao Tome, Principe, and Boiko are roughly in a line, about equal distances apart.
The only map I found which showed water depths was very large scale, and did not have very fine depth increments, so all I could tell was that once you get that far from the coast, you're talking very deep water. (Not a very useful statement, I know.)
STP falls well within the exclusive economic zone of its neighboring coastal countries. I'm not sure what this would mean for any drilling done outside of its territorial water. I found one thing on the web discussing maritime boundary disputes between the coastal countries:
petroconsultants.com
The only big ongoing dispute seems to be between Cameroon and Nigeria. According to a March 1997 list of cases before the International Court of Justice, it's still on the Court's list of things to do:
un.org
I found a site that gives some oil information for the countries in this area:
Sao Tome and Principe:
mbendi.co.za
Gabon:
mbendi.co.za
Equitorial Guinea:
mbendi.co.za
Cameroon:
mbendi.co.za
Here's some info on the Zafiro field off the island of Bioko:
offshore-technology.com
I don't think it has much bearing on STP, but it gives you and idea of the kind of things that have gone on closer to the mainland.
This site from the US-DOE gives you some info on the oil industry in Gabon (the don't seem to have sites for the other countries of interest):
eia.doe.gov
As for other info on STP, every other site I could find was either an invalid link, or was a copy of the web page from the CIA World Fact site. The only other thing I could find was a 1993 State Department report on human rights practices in STP.
I also did a search of a computer database at the library for magazine articles on STP, and the only thing I found besides the Platts Oilgram News article we are all familiar with, was a 1995 State Department dispatch condemning the coup in STP.
That's all I've got now. I'm sorry the post was so long. I hope it gives you all something to chew on for a while.
regards,
Mike |
