Lundin Petroleum

History

The company was formed in 2002 following the takeover of Lundin Oil AB by Canadian independent Talisman Energy, Lundin Petroleum AB is a Swedish oil company traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In the summer of 2003, Lundin Petroleum sold its working interest in Block 5A to Petronas Carigali for USD 142.5 million. In 1998 the company discovered the En Naga North and West field in southern part of the Sirte Basin, Libya. After a successful appraisal program in 1998 and 1999 the field was declared. The commercial and development program commenced. Development included the construction of a central production facility, 100 km pipeline together with the drilling of 20 production, 15 injector and 15 water supply wells. Recoverable reserves were estimated to be approximately 100 mmbbls. In Tunisia, the Oudna field development (Lundin Petroleum 40% working interest) was successfully completed and production commenced in November 2006.

In April 2010 it demerged its assets on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf into Petrofac's Energy Developments unit to form the stand-alone company EnQuest.

In February 2015, it has started drilling exploration well 16/1-24, located in the Gemini prospect of the North Sea. The well is located in PL338C south-west of the Edvard Grieg field, offshore Norway. It will test the reservoir properties and hydrocarbon potential of Lower Paleocene aged sandstones of the Ty Formation. The Gemini prospect is estimated to contain unrisked, gross prospective resources of 93 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mmboe). The Island Innovator semi-submersible drilling rig will be used to drill the well to a planned total depth of 2,192m below mean sea level.

Leadership

Founder Adolf H. Lundin has founded also Lundin Mining in 1994. In June 2015, Alex Schneiter was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 2015.

Criticism

In her book Affärer i blod och olja: Lundin Petroleum i Afrika (Business in blood and oil: Lundin Petroleum in Africa) journalist Kerstin Lundell claims that the company had been complicit in several crimes against humanity, including death shootings and the burning of villages.

In June 2010, ECOS (European Coalition on Oil in Sudan) published the report Unpaid Debt, which called upon the governments of Sweden, Austria and Malaysia to look into allegations that the companies Lundin, OMV and Petronas had been complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity whilst operating in Sudan during the period 1997-2003. The reported crimes include indiscriminate attacks and intentional targeting of civilians, burning of shelters, pillage, destruction of objects necessary for survival, unlawful killing of civilians, rape of women, abduction of children, torture, and forced displacement. thousands of people died and almost two hundred thousand were violently displaced. Satellite pictures taken between 1994 and 2003 show that the Lundin Consortium's activities in Sudan coincided with a spectacular drop in agricultural land use in its area of operation. Consequently, the Swedish public prosecutor for international crimes opened a criminal investigation into links between Sweden and the reported crimes. Lundin Petroleum has confirmed that the company is under investigation. The company strongly believes that it was a force for good in Sudan and that its activities contributed to the improvement of the lives of the people of Sudan. The investigation is expected to be finalized late 2016/early 2017. Suspects of international crimes in Sweden can face charges up to 18 years imprisonment. Total material damages suffered by the population have been estimated by ECOS to have been in excess of $600 million.

The criminal investigation raises the issue of access to remedy and reparation for victims of human rights violations linked with business activities. A criminal conviction in Sweden can only provide remedy for victims who are represented before the court. Lundin Petroleum endorses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, acknowledging the duty of business enterprises to contribute to effective remedy of adverse impact that it has caused or contributed to. However, the company never substantiated its claim that its activities contributed to the improvement of the lives of the people of Sudan rather than having adversely affected them.

Criticism has also been directed towards former Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, a former board member for the company, with oppositional voices questioning his suitability as foreign minister.

Ethiopia arrested two Swedish journalist Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye and held them for 14 months before the release. Conflict Ethiopian Judicial Authority v Swedish journalists 2011 was caused as the journalist studied the human rights violation claims in Ogaden by an oil explorer in a case connected to Lundin Petroleum.

On 20 October 2016, Dagens Industri reported that CEO Alex Schneiter and Chairman Ian Lundin are to be interrogated by the Swedish police as suspects of complicity in war crimes.