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| U.S. Considers Building Port at Sao Tome |
| 2004-02-19 |
| The United States is studying whether to build a deep-water port and new airport at Sao Tome, an island nation touted as a possible Navy base to protect growing Western oil interests in West Africa. Ambassador Kenneth Moorefield and Sao Tome ministers signed the $800,000 study agreement at Sao Tome’s current international airport, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency said in a statement. Sao Tome, off oil-rich Nigeria, is one of the lead nations in an oil boom in West Africa as the United States, Asia and Europe look for alternatives to Mideast oil. West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea supplies the United States with 15 percent of its oil, a figure projected to grow to 25 percent by 2015. The study on expanding Sao Tome’s port and airport is in line with a U.S. agreement to "evaluate opportunities for technical assistance" to Sao Tome, the U.S. statement said. U.S. companies will get the contract for the work, the statement said. I think this means we have to suffer another NMM rant about Halliburton. Some U.S. and oil industry officials and Washington energy think-tanks have urged the Bush administration to establish a U.S. naval base on Sao Tome. In 2002, Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes announced that his country and the United States had agreed upon establishment of a U.S. Navy base there. The United States never confirmed any such plans. The U.S. military has acknowledged visits to Sao Tome for what were described as planning talks on security in the Gulf of Guinea. I guess this makes sense, but I’d sure hate to be a Lt-jg in charge of |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Re time required if the Halliburton non-compete had been competed. I posted a series about this on Winds of Change some time back. How long would depend on who else bid. It takes anywhere from 3 to 6 months to audit and verify labor categories and associated hourly charges. One reason Halliburton was so attractive is that it combined the requisite skills with a) security clearances and b) a set of relevant labor categories, overhead rates etc. that had been recently audited and approved. Note that the charges which have been questioned were "direct materials" charges, i.e. costs passed along from a subcontractor who in turn was used due to a pressing need for oil and gas in Basra ASAP, as the commanders tried to stave off a full fledged riot and/or insurgency there due to disruptions in basic supplies. Go check out the series on WOC - you can search on "Halliburton" or "defense contracting" - for more details. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-2-19 4:46:25 PM |
| #9 This is a brilliant move. The US needs a base where they won't have serious security risks but can reach anywhere where there might be action. Deep water port, airstrip, massive hospital and create Okinawa East. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-2-19 3:31:32 PM |
| #8 SH, you be baad. LOL |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-19 11:35:13 AM |
| #7 Well at least muck4doo knows where chainey's hiding today... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-2-19 11:26:38 AM |
| #6 Being a island, it's a good choice. No border to slip across, have to take a boat or fly in. Easy to screen access, smaller population to keep a eye on, much better than a mainland base. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-2-19 8:21:06 AM |
| #5 I still say that Waste Management should have been allowed to bid. With a naval base in that area, is it possible that Liberia will allow us to use their capital to replace the Viequess island range? Even if they turn us down, will they really notice if we use it anyway? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-19 7:58:18 AM |
| #4 Eh that depends..see one of the issues is that Halliburton/KBR was already in field with US units and essentially already THERE in Iraq and ready to go so cost wise they could give a lower price on the contract. This is the main reason Bechtel decided not to compete in a bid. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2004-2-19 6:27:49 AM |
| #3 I should have clarified, Iraqi no-bid contract. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-2-19 1:49:25 AM |
| #2 Hopefully someone could answer this cos' I'm loading for bear: If the admin did put out the contract for bid, how long would the process have taken? 1 year?? 18 months???? |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-2-19 1:48:59 AM |
| #1 Beautiful Equitorial Guinea! Take a hat. Better yet, a Pith Helmet. And lots of deodorant. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-2-19 1:34:22 AM |