Total paid near 4 million to occupier for oil block
The French company Total paid the Moroccan government near 4 million US dollars for the Anzarane exploration licence offshore Western Sahara, under illegal occupation.
Published 08 October 2019
A document titled "Registration document" - edition 2015, reveals the amount Total had paid for its controversial Anzarane block in occupied Western Sahara: 3,859,000 US dollars. The document was published in 2016.
Total left the block in December 2015 after four years of exploratory seismic studies.
The same kind of document for 2014 elaborates further somewhat on how it reflects around the legal and ethical aspects of operating in Western Sahara.
While claiming to be abiding by the UN, Total manages to both in the 2014 and 2015 files to claim that the Anzarane block is located "In Morocco". No states in the world recognises Western Sahara as part of Morocco.
Morocco's claim to the territory have been rejected by the International Court of Justice, the EU Court of Justice and the United Nations.
The company had since 2001 signed in Western Sahara, and always referred to it as "Morocco". No seeking of consent has been ever done with the people of the territory.
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