15-01-09 The presidents of Nigeria and the neighbouring archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe said they would put pressure on oil firms to forge ahead with exploration in their joint development zone.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua and his counterpart from Sao Tome, Fradique de Menezes, met in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss the development of the joint offshore zone which the two countries share. They said licensing agreements were in place for four of six blocks in the zone but that there were still some unresolved issues over rights to the two remaining blocks.

"We agreed that this is the time to make the oil companies in the zone work. The oil companies must now start work," de Menezes said.
"The Nigerian president has assured me that Nigeria is now ready to mount some pressure on the oil companies in order to really start operating the oil blocks, because they must drill the blocks they won," he said.

Exploration in the area has so far proved disappointing. Chevron has said an early oil strike did not prove commercially viable, but it is continuing drilling. China's Sinopec and Switzerland's Addax Petroleum are also exploring there.
Some 60 % of any government revenues from the zone will go to the Nigerian government, while Sao Tome will receive the remainder.