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Woodside Petroleum Has Been Cleared of Bribery Allegations in Mauritania

05-26-2008

Woodside Petroleum Ltd says it has been cleared of allegations of bribing an official while operating in Mauritania.

"On 18 May 2006, Woodside advised that Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne had asked the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to investigate Woodside in relation to allegations of bribery by the company of a Mauritanian foreign official," the company said in a statement.

"The AFP have now provided Woodside with formal written advice that their investigation has not identified any evidence against any individual or entity for the offence of bribing Mauritanian officials, and that their inquiry is now complete."

The complaint was referred to the AFP in mid 2006.

Woodside has always denied that any bribery or any type of illegal conduct took place.

The alleged offences were said to have occurred after the Mauritanian government was overthrown in a military coup in August 2005.

The subsequent government said oil contracts negotiated with the previous president were illegal.

New contracts were signed to replace the previous, disputed agreements, which had led to litigation between Woodside and the Mauritanian government.

Soon after, Woodside announced it would sell its underperforming Chinguetti oil fields in Mauritania to Petronas Australia Pty Ltd for $US418 million ($A477 million).

Woodside said divesting the assets were part of a shift in strategy to focus on its core Australian assets and divest its non-core overseas assets.

The sale caused the Perth-headquartered producer of liquefied natural gas giant to record a book loss of about $230 million.

The Chinguetti field failed to meet Woodside's expectations but proved a company maker for Hardman Resources Ltd, which was ultimately acquired by UK-based Tullow Oil Plc.

Woodside is considering the future of its remaining African assets, which include projects in Libya.

The company is 34 per cent owned by Royal Dutch Shell.