Guinean Government News

An oil supertanker accused by Nigerian authorities of attempting to illegally load crude before leaving its territorial waters is on its way back to the country, a Nigerian Navy spokesman told Reuters on Friday.At the request of Nigerian authorities, Equatorial Guinea detained the Heroic Idun, a vessel capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, on Aug. 17 for sailing without an identifying flag, fleeing from the Nigerian navy and sailing in Equatorial Guinean waters without prior authorization.Nigerian officials said Messrs.

A U.S. shipping firm is suing Alcoa for $300 million saying it suffered losses after the aluminium maker breached a contract with the Guinean government concerning bauxite shipments from the world's top exporter, court documents showed. Nanko Shipping and its president Mori Diane filed a civil complaint in the U.S. district court of the District of Columbia last week saying it had been harmed by Alcoa's refusal to honor the terms of the 1963 joint-venture mining deal with the Guinean government. That agreement established the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), the largest bauxite mine in the West African country, and gave the government the right to choose a company to ship half of its production, according to a copy seen by Reuters.

Miner and commodity trader Glencore has expressed interest in iron deposits in Guinea, a presentation obtained by Reuters shows, although the company said it had not pitched for a stake in Simandou, the country's largest deposit. Glencore is the latest mining major looking to invest in iron ore assets in Guinea. Most interest is focused on Simandou, one of the world's biggest deposits. Any potential investors in Simandou are treading carefully, however. Israeli-owned BSG Resources, which was stripped of its license to develop part of Simandou following a Guinean corruption investigation, is seeking arbitration and has threatened to sue companies that invest in its former license area.