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Gambia announces big oil finds onshore and offshore

A recent study has found oil in Gambia and the tiny, impoverished West African state could soon become rich, President Yahya Jammeh said.

"I am pleased to announce that oil has been discovered in the Gambia," Jammeh said in a televised address to the nation late on Friday.

"The results of our findings are very promising. We have discovered oil both onshore and offshore. The country will be a rich nation soon," he said.

Jammeh did not say which companies may be involved in the discovery, nor who had conducted the study.

"Before the end of the year we will start experimenting at some of the discovered sites," he said.

With an annual per capita income of US$340, Gambia -- a sliver of land almost entirely surrounded by Senegal -- is one of the world's poorest countries. The former British colony's 1.25 million people survive on tourism, fishing and groundnuts.

Recent oil discoveries off the West African coast have led analysts to predict that the region will become an increasingly important supplier of oil, as the US seeks to reduce its heavy dependence on supplies from the turbulent Middle East.

Nearby Mauritania, which is separated from Gambia by Senegal, is hoping to start exporting oil towards the end of next year.

Jammeh said he wanted to rid his country of corruption in order to make good use of the hoped-for new oil wealth and told Gambians they should keep tending to their businesses as usual and not start dreaming about possible oil riches.

"You should not sit and fold your hands and say you are waiting for the oil. Don't say oil has been discovered in the Gambia and you will stop whatever work you have been doing. Farming and other working activities should continue," he said.
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