(16 commentaires)

  1. Visa d’or de la presse quotidienne au Periodico de Catalunya (Espagne)
    AFP 07.09.06 | 22h31
    Le Visa d’or de la presse quotidienne a été décerné jeudi soir à Perpignan, lors du 18ème Visa pour l’image, Festival international du photojournalisme, au quotidien espagnol El Periodico de Catalunya, pour le travail de Sergio Caro sur les migrants africains, a annoncé le jury.
    Le Visa d’or de la presse quotidienne récompense le meilleur reportage photographique de l’année paru dans un quotidien de la presse internationale, parmi 4O titres internationaux, de 15 pays différents.
    Agé de 29 ans, autodidacte, Sergio Caro, photographe indépendant andalou, collabore au Periodico de Catalunya, et a été très tôt sensibilisé au problème de l’immigration africaine vers l’Europe.
    Les photos primées sont issues d’un reportage réalisé en septembre et octobre 2005 dans le désert du Sahel, où il a suivi des migrants d’Afrique noire qui affluent vers l’Afrique du Nord, dans l’espoir d’atteindre les côtes européennes. Ce reportage est une commande du Periodico de Catalunya, pour lequel Sergio Caro a passé quinze jours en Afrique.
    Deux autres Visa d’or, en catégorie magazine et news seront décernés lors de ce Festival qui s’achève le 17 septembre.

  2. Sincèrement ravie qu’autant de lecteurs consultent cet article
    Merci à vous.

  3. Côté prix, le jury a couronné le reportage de l’Israélien Shaul Schwarz (Getty Images) avec un Visa d’or catégorie news pour son reportage sur l’évacuation des colons de la bande de Gaza.
    Le Visa d’or magazine est allé au travail de Todd Heisler (Polaris/Deadline) réalisé pour le Rocky Mountain News : le photographe a suivi pendant près d’une année le major Steve Beck, chargé d’annoncer aux familles la mort de leur proche, tué en Afghanistan ou en Irak. Dans la catégorie presse quotidienne, c’est le photographe espagnol indépendant Sergio Caro qui a reçu le Visa d’or pour son travail sur l’immigration africaine en Europe.
    Véronique de Viguerie (World Picture Network) a reçu le prix Canon de la femme photojournaliste pour son travail sur l’Afghanistan, Tomas van Houtryve a été récompensé du prix du Jeune Reporter de la ville de Perpignan après avoir suivi la guérilla maoïste au Népal, tandis que Hazel Thompson (Eyevine) a remporté le grand prix Care international du reportage humanitaire pour son reportage sur le travail des enfants dans les prisons aux Philippines.
    Les expositions du festival Visa pour l’image, gratuites, sont visibles jusqu’au dimanche 17 septembre à Perpignan.

  4. Futurs articles en « gestation » sur Tchernobyl, Azerbaidjan, exploitation du diamant … et des mineurs, Katrina, soldats Us en Irak notamment.

  5. + Nepal , Guerre du Golfe (ou les photos sont + qu’edifiantes …)
    Togo egalement : enfin on en parle !

  6. PERPIGNAN, 8 sept 2006 (AFP) – 21h00
    Le Visa d’or magazine décerné à Todd Heisler (Rocky mountains news)
    Le Visa d’or magazine a été décerné vendredi à Perpignan lors du 18e Festival « Visa pour l’image » à l’Américain Todd Heisler pour son reportage paru dans le journal Rocky mountain news (Denver, Colorado), sur le dernier hommage aux soldats américains morts en Irak, a annoncé le jury.
    Son travail « Final Salute » est actuellement exposé à Perpignan : Todd Heisler suit depuis un an un major chargé d’annoncer aux familles américaines le décès de soldats en Irak. Le major et ses camarades montent la garde devant les cercueils d’hommes qu’ils n’ont jamais connus, tandis que les Marines réconfortent les familles des hommes tombés au combat. Todd Heisler a commencé sa carrière en travaillant pour des hebdomadaires municipaux dans les banlieux de Chicago.
    Il est devenu photographe intégré au Rocky mountains news en 2001 pour lequel il a couvert des événements divers comme les troupes américaines en Irak ainsi que le retour de ces troupes aux Etats-Unis. Il est lauréat de nombreux prix, notamment du World Press Photo en catégorie news. Trois autres étaient sélectionnés : Jérome Sessini pour « Immigrants au Mexique », Bruno Stevens pour « Choléra en Angola » et Tom Stoddart pour « Tchernobyl ». Le Visa d’or « presse quotidienne » a été décerné jeudi au Periodico de Catalunya (Espagne). Le Visa d’or « news » le sera samedi.

  8. Compte-tenu de l’actualité , je pense -enfin – faire article sur Azerbaidjan ce week end .. via photos et textes issus de VISA

  11. Misadventures in oil exploration: Texana and Cairn in Nepal
    Posted: June 15th, 2012 ? Filled under: Agriculture, Forest, Oil Exploration in Nepal ? Comments Closed
    Tweet1In most countries, oil companies don’t pack up and leave quietly. They have to be forced out. But in Nepal, Texana (American) and Cairn (Scottish) announced a self-imposed suspension of their oil exploration operations last week, citing “force majeure.”

    They have done this several times before. In response, segments of the Nepali media cited fairly unimpressive figures in oil royalty and declared these events as a loss for the country, and blamed the government for being business-unfriendly.

    Somehow, parts of the national media managed to enslave the country’s economy to a nonexistent petro-economy before a single barrel of oil has even been pumped out from Nepali territory.

    To most of the readers of that news, the entire affair must’ve come across as just another example of poor bureaucracy run by policymakers who can’t get anything right. But it’s worth rethinking the situation as a possible victory for Nepal.

    A brief history of Nepal’s oil exploration projects:
    Started in 1982 as a World Bank initiative, the Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project (PEPP) was developed with the technical and financial assistance of the Bank. By 1985, almost 1/3rd of Nepal, that is, just about all the Terai region, had been divided into 10 blocks to be auctioned off for oil exploration to foreign countries.

    Part of the 1982 World Bank document for Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project.

    Almost one third of the Nepal has been plotted out for oil exploration. Currently all 10 blocks have been leased out to foreign companies. Map Credit: Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project, Nepal.

    A WWF map outlines the Oil exploration blocks in red and the vast swatch of Nepal’s conservation and protected areas that fall within those blocks.
    In 1986, Shell and Triton bought Block #10 in Eastern Nepal but abandoned its project soon when it didn’t strike any oil near Biratnagar. People in the project will argue now that Shell just didn’t drill deep enough. In 1992, 10 years after the project was initiated, its Completion Report was produced.

    Violation of Petroleum Act?:
    In 1998, the Texas-based company Texana Resources signed a deal with the Nepali government for Blocks #3 and #5. The Petroleum Act that governs the Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project (PEPP) in Nepal stipulates a company may own only two of the 10 Exploration Blocks.

    Then, in 2004, came along Cairn Energy. The Scottish company had made it big after striking oil in India and bought Blocks #1, #2, #4, #6 and #7 in Nepal, three more than the Act permits.

    Last year, a representative of Texana explained briefly over the phone that he was unable to discuss the company’s stakes in Nepal and declined to comment further on the issue or respond to a follow-up email. It appears now the company had been trying to work out the transfer of their blocks to Canada’s Patriotic Petroleum Corp.

    However, Cairn had been trying to buy Texana’s blocks at least since 2007. This would have allowed Cairn to own seven consecutive blocks, leaving only three free.

    The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Means had shot down this proposal. Two attempts to contact Cairn’s communications officers in 2011 yielded no response at all.

    Still, Cairn as well as the officials involved in the case seems to already have violated the Act by allowing Cairn to own five blocks.

    Cover pages of the contracts between the Nepali government and the oil exploration companies Texana and Cairn. These documents remain “confidential.”
    Texana’s threats:
    It has been reported that Texana is “considering international arbitration” charges against Nepal and has written to the Nepali Embassy in Washington DC and the American Embassy in Kathmandu.

    If anything, it portrays Texana as a flustered company playing the last defense strategy on the off chance that the Nepali government will feel pressured enough to process their requests.

    If Texana does actually pursue that legal path, it must be welcomed. Then, the Government of Nepal, and more importantly, the People of Nepal, must make sure the case is processed publicly. Let’s find out what all documents related to their deals in Nepal say, and let’s find out who would be paying for Texana’s legal fees.

    It would be just wonderful to finally have representatives of the illusive company stand before Nepal’s, or any, judiciary system and the Nepali public, or the world media, and answer questions regarding their operations, transactions, and presence in Nepal.

    Were the case to be filed in America, the right to information on the matter may become even easier, and the media glare possibly intense.

    The entire PEPP is one of the most opaque undertakings by Nepal. A handful of people designed it without consultations with any local stakeholders and communities.

    It is a project that will entirely serve the interests of foreign companies. The extraction- and mining-based projects are set on some of the most fragile and fertile regions of the country. Any legal battle regarding any of the deals would bring about the opportunity to finally open up the issue for public discourse.

    Should Texana be investigated?:
    The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) can simply be defined as an Act that makes it illegal for American corporations to bribe foreign officials. The Obama Administration has actually managed to conduct several high-profile cases using this Act.

    Texana has been lobbying the Nepali government to push through its deal with Cairn for about a decade. In those years, there have been multiple turnovers of prime ministers and line ministers and other officials in the governments.

    Let’s make it official: Has Texana, and Cairn, ever engaged in any corruption in Nepal? Have conflicts of interests been overlooked for the sake of their business deals here? Let’s have the respective countries, where these companies are based, clear up this issue for the people of the country in which these companies have been working.

    The American Embassy in Nepal has been working tirelessly to improve American-Nepal business relations, and to help American companies to set up shop here.

    What better way to encourage all of this than to also say that the Government of the United States will not stand for American businesses engaging in corruption in Nepal.

    In fact, the onus might even be on the American Embassy in Kathmandu to encourage the relevant Department to ensure Texana has never violated the FCPA during its operations here.
    What loss?:
    It is baffling that any news media would report the suspension of activities by Texana and Cairn as a loss of Nepal without looking at the issues in a larger perspective. It is even unfair to make such a suggestion without actually calculating what the loss could have been if those companies had succeeded in doing what they set out to do in Nepal: Find and extract crude oil.

    The Terai is Nepal’s breadbasket. Any seasonal fluctuation in production there can put Nepal’s food security at greater risk. The forests in the region serve not just Nepal’s interests but also help India by checking floods and maintaining water tables.

    A farm in Dhangadi, in western Nepal. This region falls under Petroleum Exploration Block #1. Photo: Kashish Das Shrestha
    Outside of the National Parks, Terai also serves as a critical South Asian ecological corridor for rare and endangered wildlife. Simply putting the entire Terai region on the global market for oil exploration has already put all of these elements in jeopardy.

    So, would ending the project be an actual long-term loss for Nepal? Must our economic growth be hinged on one of the most unsustainable and devastating forms of natural resource extraction and consumption?

    No country should have to cower down to foreign companies, especially the kind that suck out your natural resources, make great profits on it, and leave behind a trail of long-term ecological disasters, and in many cases, a socio-economic mess.

    It is absurd, and misguided, that a national daily would behave like an apologist for these companies because Nepal made it difficult for them to peacefully find and extract oil.

    Oil is coming out of Libya and going to the world. Oil is coming out of Sudan and going to the world. Oil is coming out of Nigeria and going to the world.

    To genuinely believe that these two companies are leaving Nepal because working conditions are not right might be slightly naïve and aloof.

    Texana has no use for its blocks except to sell them to a new buyer. Cairn is the only real buyer around. And Nepal Government is shopping for new buyers for the remaining three blocks in the east, which surely must irritate both Texana and Cairn.

    While Cairn made serious investments in Nepal, there is no evidence to suggest that Texana ever had the same commitment here.

    Cairn has a lot going on but Nepal may not really be on the top of their priority list. When Cairn came to Nepal, it was the new hotshot in the global oil exploration industry. Their standings in the industry may have changed a bit since.

    Last year, Cairn announced perhaps one of their largest projects yet: oil exploration and extraction in the Arctic Sea. The project turned into a massive controversy and an ego war between Greenpeace and Cairn.

    When Cairn failed to find oil there, it also turned into a fiscal loss and an embarrassment. In India, Cairn deals had come under government scrutiny and suffered major setbacks. And so last year, the company shifted its focus to more promising and lucrative oil and gas exploration projects in Sri Lanka.

    Digging into Nepali territory to find and extract oil is not in Nepal’s general interest – ecological, economical, or social. Developed countries are finding that it isn’t even in their real long-term interest to do this.

    If Nepal plays its cards right, it has the opportunity to become a serious producer and consumer of renewable energy, such as solar. Nepal’s long-term energy and economic future is not buried deep in its grounds. We need to stop looking down, and start looking up, and all around.

    Texana and Cairn might feel like they have had a misadventure in Nepal right now. But should things have gone as planned for their oil exploration projects, it could very well have become one of Nepal’s greater misadventures.

    Part 1 of the investigative series Oil Exploration in Nepal, as published (June 15, 2012) in Republica national daily.

  12. Weary oil exploration cos and lethargic govt make fine pair
    – SANJEEV GIRI
    KATHMANDU, JAN 23 –

    Petroleum exploration in Nepal does not look like getting off the ground in the immediate future as prospecting companies seem to have lost enthusiasm. Cairn Energy, which held an exploration licence for five blocks, or territories into which the country has been delineated for exploration, has pulled out.

    Texana Resources has not withdrawn its notice on force majeure and has stopped exploration activities. Meanwhile, two companies that entered Nepal in 2012, BBB Champion Company and Emirates Associated Business Group, have dropped off the radar.

    The “slow progress” on the exploration front has provoked the Ministry of Industry (MoI) to issue strongly worded warnings, and it has even been “considering” terminating the permits held by the four oil companies.

    The ministry’s Petroleum Advisory Board has sought clarifications from the oil companies and they have been asked to furnish a convincing reply within 30 working days. The four companies have been told to explain the status of their Nepal operations. Industry Secretary Krishna Gyawali says the ministry has not decided yet, but is seriously mulling about terminating their contracts if they fail to furnish a convincing reply. “If their reply fails to convince us, we will move ahead with the licence cancellation,” he said.

    The ministry is of the view that the companies can leave Nepal if they are not interested in exploration work here. “We found they are not serious about taking the exploration work ahead, but are only holding the licence,” said Gyawali. “There is no point asking these companies to stay if they don’t want to carry out the work for which they received the licences.”

    Cairn Energy, a Scottish oil and gas company, had received a permit to drill for oil 10 years ago. It shut down its Nepal office citing “slow bureaucratic process” and “government indifference” six month ago.

    With Cairn’s departure, Nepal’s oil exploration efforts that had been progressing at a crawl have suffered a serious setback. In fact, the entire petroleum exploration scenario has been characterised by the oil companies’ delay tactics and the government’s apathy.

    Citing “unfavourable environment”, oil companies have invoked force majeure and remained idle while the government has been equally lethargic, neglecting to address their genuine issues or forcing them to get on with their task.

    The history of petroleum exploration in Nepal is not so long. It gained momentum in the late 1990s when Houston-based Texana received a contract to drill for oil in two blocks, or regions into which the country has been divided for exploration purposes. The Tarai and Siwalik hills have been divided into 10 “exploration blocks” of 5,000 sq km each as being potential oil fields. Texana won the bid for Blocks 3 and 5 (in Banke and Chitwan) and entered into an agreement with the government in December 1998.

    Six years later, the country’s petroleum exploration bid was further bolstered when Cairn received a licence to explore five more blocks—Blocks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 (Dhangadhi, Karnali, Lumbini, Birgunj and Malangawa respectively). However, with the political situation worsening (the Maoist conflict being the prime reason), both Texana and Cairn were forced to remain inactive till around 2009. It was only later that these companies started doing serious work.

    Bharat Mani Gyawali, former operation advisor to Cairn in Nepal, said the company undertook geological structural mapping and hydrocarbon analysis from 2009 onwards. But progress was slower than expected, he added. In 2010, Cairn asked the government to amend its work plan which, Gyawali said, was necessary to allow it to move forward. But the department turned down its request. The Department of Mines and Geology (DoMG) said it was not legally possible to make the amendments as sought by Cairn. “Cairn was forced to leave Nepal as their repeated requests to create an environment for them to work remained unheard by the government,” said Gyawali.

    Cairn has stopped its activities for the past two and a half years citing force majeure. Force majeure, a popular terminology in oil industry parlance, frees a party from fulfilling an obligation in the event of circumstances going beyond its control. “In 2011, the company was willing to withdraw its force majeure notice and get back to work,” said Gyawali. “However, the government never showed any seriousness.”

    Both Texana and Cairn have already spent millions of dollars in Nepal on preliminary surveys and were ready to conduct an aeromagnetic survey. “Cairn was all set to call for tenders for the survey,” said Gyawali.

    Another reason behind Cairn’s frustration is the government’s refusal to endorse the agreement it signed with Texana to acquire Blocks 3 and 5 (Nepalgunj and Chitwan). In 2006, Cairn’s subsidiary Capricorn had reached an agreement with Texana to acquire its permit to conduct exploration in these two blocks.

    Cairn made yet another attempt to sell its licence in 2012 when it was approached by an Australian company and sought the government’s approval. “We held meetings with the energy minister and the Investment Board Nepal, but our proposal wasn’t endorsed,” said Gyawali.

    The government, however, has said the Australian company, proposed by Cairn, was financially and technically weak to carry on with the project. “It’s true the agreement enables Crain to sell its shares,” said Rajendra Prasad Khanal, project chief of the Petroleum Explora-tion Promotion Project. “Howev-er, it does not mean the government should allow it to happen with a company which doesn’t seem to have capability.”

    According to MoI officials, Cairn lost interest in Nepal after it sold its majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta Resources in 2011. Vedanta, owned by Anil Agarwal, had acquired a majority stake in Cairn India for about US$ 9 billion in 2011. When the acquisition agreement did not materialize, Texana tried to transfer its right and obligations to Canadian-based Patriot Petro-leum Corp in 2011. Texana and Patriot signed a sales and purchase agreement under which Texana would assign to Patriot all its interests under a petroleum agreement for exploration of the two blocks for which it held the exploration licence.

    Clause 64 of the agreement signed between the Nepal government and Texana allows the US-based company to transfer its project to any other company, and the government has to endorse it within 60 days of receiving the request. However, the DoMG has not approved Texana’s application till date.

    Texana’s representative in Nepal said the company was very much interested in Nepal and would start preparations for an aeromagnetic survey soon. “We’re still confident that we can work here,” said Prabhat Yonjan, representative of Texana. Nevertheless, the company is still reluctant to withdraw its force majeure notice.

    In 2012, two more companies entered Nepal. The government awarded three petroleum exploration blocks to US-based BBB Champion Company and Dubai-based Emirates Associated Business Group (EABG). BBB got Block 10 (Biratnagar) while EABG was given Blocks 8 and 9 (Janakpur and Rajbiraj).

    Two years later, both the companies had dropped out of sight. DoMG officials said they had not been able to locate BBB while EABG has asked for a termination of its exploration licence.

    BBB had presented an ambitious work plan stating that it would complete the work within a year. In reply, the department had instructed it to come up with a modified and realistic plan. “We’re yet to get the modified plan,” said Khanal. “Since then, the company has been totally out of contact.”

    The Industry Ministry is planning to seek the help of the US Embassy in Nepal to locate BBB. According to Khanal, the government has instructed EABG to clear all its liabilities if it wants to cancel the exploration licence. “We’ve told EABG to fulfill all its liabilities and then move ahead with the licence cancellation. But it has fulfilled only some of the liabilities,” he added.

    One of the ironies in the country’s petroleum exploration efforts is that relations between the government and the oil companies have never been smooth. The oil companies, frustrated by the way of operation of the Industry Ministry and the DoMG, have accused them of not fulfilling their commitments. The government, on its part, said the companies never showed any seriousness even when the ground environment improved for them to start exploration work. “It took us six months to process one letter,” recalled Gyawali. “How can international companies work in such a situation?”

    The oil companies have also pointed to lack of coordination between the ministries as being another impediment. “Though the Petroleum Advisory Board consists of several secretaries, it never made an effort to resolve the obstacles that the companies have to face in each ministry,” said Gyawali. Gyawali said the government should reform the Petroleum Act and Regulation make it compatible with the present scenario if it really wanted to attract serious companies to undertake petroleum exploration. “Given the rapid changes, at least we need to make the act compatible with those of India and Bangladesh if not better,” added Gyawali.

    According to Gyawali, another step the government should take is form a high-level independent body to fast-track all issues related to petroleum exploration. Khanal says the department has proposed the ministry for amendment in the regulation. “The ministry is positive for this,” he added.

    Will the government go ahead and terminate licence if they fail to get convincing reply? Khanal says their intention is not to terminate the licence totally. “We want to understand their problem. And, will work to create conducive environment for them to start exploration.”

    Posted on: 2014-01-23 09:19

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