Diplomatic Double Dealing: Scandinavian Consul’s Oil Gambit Harms Okavango
A Norwegian oil firm’s investment in controversial exploration near Botswana’s Okavango Delta has sparked outrage across Scandinavia. In July 2024, the Norwegian oil and gas company BW Energy announced a partnership with the Canadian firm ReconAfrica to drill for oil in the watershed of the Kavango basin of Namibia, threatening the iconic upstream Okavango Delta of Botswana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Southern Africa.
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A Norwegian oil firm’s investment in controversial exploration near Botswana’s Okavango Delta has sparked outrage across Scandinavia. In July 2024, the Norwegian oil and gas company BW Energy announced a partnership with the Canadian firm ReconAfrica to drill for oil in the watershed of the Kavango basin of Namibia, threatening the iconic upstream Okavango Delta of Botswana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Southern Africa.
The $125 million that BW Energy is promising to invest in ReconAfrica is crucial capital that allows the Canadian company to carry on drilling its highly contentious and potentially ecologically devastating drilling activities.
Klaus Endresen is believed to be central to the deal between BW Energy and ReconAfrica. According to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Endresen is the country’s Honorary Consulate General in Namibia. He is also the Consul for Sweden and Denmark.
At the same time as representing the interests of the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish governments, Endresen is a long-standing oil executive who has lived in Namibia for decades. Since 2017, Endresen has been the General Manager of BW Kudu, which is exploring for oil offshore of Namibia and is a subsidiary of BW Energy.
Endresen is also Chair of the Namibia Petroleum Operators Association (NAMPOA), a two-year post he will hold until January 2025. ReconNamibia, the subsidiary of ReconAfrica, is a member.
So, Endressen represents the interests of three Scandinavian countries in Namibia while being the general manager of an oil company that has just sealed a highly controversial deal with ReconAfrica.
This BW Energy/ReconAfrica deal poses a significant threat to the Okavango Delta. Spanning approximately 2 million hectares, this inland delta is a haven for biodiversity, including Africa’s largest remaining population of endangered savanna elephants. This exceptional wetland is now under threat from ReconAfrica’s oil drilling, posing severe risks to its water resources and rich biodiversity.
Compounding this concern is the troubling track record of ReconAfrica and those associated with it, including accusations of misleading investors, alleged corruption, and environmental crimes. This year, ReconAfrica agreed to payouts of over $12 million to settle legal complaints from shareholders who sued the company over highly misleading public statements about the prospects of oil. Additionally, ReconAfrica has been accused of human rights violations and possible breaches of environmental law.
ReconAfrica is already fraught with legal and ethical concerns and their partnership with BW Energy risks destroying one of the world’s vital ecosystems. The Okavango River Basin, encompassing a network of rivers across Namibia, Angola, and Botswana, is essential for the survival of local communities and wildlife. Drilling activities near a tributary of the Kavango river, the Omatako, have already resulted in drilling waste fluids being discharged in unlined pits, endangering the groundwater.
In an arid region where tens of thousands of people rely on groundwater, contamination could have devastating consequences, especially on aquifers that supply drinking water and irrigation for crops. In worst-case scenarios, contaminated groundwater from the oil lease could reach the Delta within 4 days.
Critics, therefore, see BW Energy’s partnership with ReconAfrica as a reckless gamble that endangers not just a local treasure, but one of the most iconic ecosystems on the planet whose preservation is crucial for biodiversity, climate stability, and the well-being of the communities that depend on it.
The three Scandinavian countries that Endresen represents must recognize that the true value of the Okavango Delta lies not in short-term profits from fossil fuel extraction but in its long-term potential as a haven for biodiversity, a source of sustainable livelihoods, and a critical component in the global fight against climate change.