After Soco, Conrad Clauson takes on Indimi's Oriental Energy

摘要

Will Conrad Clauson strike again? The boss of the Norwegian firm Coastal Energy, who had tried unsuccessfully to get hold of Soco International's 40% share of the Congolese Marine XI permit in June 2018 (Africa Intelligence, 15/01/19), is preparing another comeback. Clauson invited the founder of Nigerian junior Oriental Energy Resources (OER), Muhammadu Indimi, to Norway a few months ago. Clauson wanted one of his other firms, Viking Oil and Gas, to place an FPSO on the Okwok field (OML 67), whose development OER has postponed for several years. According to our sources, Indimi has already paid Clauson several million dollars to find a vessel capable of collecting the crude. The Norwegian businessman holds two aces to help win the trust of Indimi, the patriarch of Nigerian oil. The first is his oft-flaunted connection with the Norwegian-born Cypriot tycoon John Fredriksen, who made his fortune in oil tankers through Golden Ocean Group. Clauson had already used Fredriksen's name in his failed bid to acquire Soco in Congo. The other person who adds to his credibility is his father-inlaw, Olav Eek Thorstensen, chairman of the Singapore-based Thome Group, which had been all set to operate Okwok's future FPSO when the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to those plans (Africa Intelligence, 31/3/2020). OER did not respond to Africa Intelligence's queries.