On Thursday of last week, Minister of Natural Resources John Briceno reported to the National Assembly that oil has been discovered in commercial quantities in Spanish Lookout. It's a tremendous and historic development, but that doesn't mean it's all smooth sailing ahead. As a matter of fact, relations between the government and the oil company that made the discovery, Belize Natural Energy, have hit the rocks. 7NEWS has been reliably informed that by the end of business on Thursday, just hours after Briceno's announcement, the Ministry of Natural Resources sent Belize Natural Energy a letter ordering that it halt operations immediately.
As we understand it, the dispute centers over government's decision to exercise its option and purchase 10% equity in Belize Natural Energy. However, there's been some difference over who will finance that. It seems that, initially, BNE had committed to the financing but then changed its position. Meetings are being held to reach a compromise but presently government's stop order has not been revoked. Meetings to resolve the impasse continue into tomorrow.
Government is eager to exert some muscle because on the present block that BNE is drilling, the commercial projection is that the company can harness 19.2 million barrels of oil, worth more than US$1 billion at US$50 a barrel, below current world market prices.
