Now there are two Oilgarves. 'Oilgarve – the Algarve says no to oil' the anti-oil exploitation pressure group run by ASMAA from its Lagos base, and as of three days ago, the pro-oil 'Oilgarve' Facebook page put up by the 'Oilgarve Exploration Company, Ltd.'
This company, according to the blurb, ‘is a private company based in Algarve, Portugal,’ although no Limited company of that name is registered in the UK or Portugal and does not show up on searches of international company registers.
When quizzed as to the registration location of Oilgarve Exploration Company, Ltd, the Oilgarve Facebook editor failed several times to answer this easy 'starter for ten.'
In addition to pinching the name of the anti-oil protest group, which is an interesting business decision on its own, the Oilgarve Facebook pages have managed to generate adverse comments from scores of respondents.
The childish assertion on the Facebook page that there will be ‘trips to see the oil rig’ and a ‘Rapsol’ concert in mid October (“In order to celebrate with all the youth we are bringing the best names in RAP / R&B / HIP HOP. 17th October. See you soon.”) pale into insignificance when the pro-oil site, allegedly paid for by Repsol’s marketing department, claims that the 10 cents a barrel deal will bring untold riches to the Algarve region.
A further question from your Ed received zero response:
“For crude oil royalty rates, see http://www.loc.gov/.../crude-oil-royalty-rates/index.php
"This will show you that the deal signed by the Portuguese government is one of the worst in history and is deeply suspicious.
"For example royalty rates in Algeria 12%, Australia 10-12%, Argentina 12%, Ecuador 12.5% to 18.5% and Portugal - 10 cents a barrel. At a barrel price of USD50 this (the Portuguese deal) is 0.2% - how is this good?”
Perhaps the most insulting part of the Oilgarve Facebook site is a picture of a happy family playing on a pristine beach with an oil rig in the background and a heading ‘the Algarve and your new riches.’
A later claim that ‘we are here to develop the Algarve region’ does not address the plan that any oil or gas exploited commercially will be shipped to Spain, or to Sines in the Alentejo, and that the miserly 10 cents a barrel, a fixed rate whatever the international oil price, will go straight to Lisbon and is unlikely to revert to the Algarve region, such is the relationship between the Algarve and central government.
Perhaps most disturbingly, the site devotes a section to former international arms dealer Sir Charles Masefield and credits him with a seminal role in developing the oil and gas industry in the Algarve.
‘Thank you to Sir Charles Masefield of www.ioniqcapital.com for closing this deal’ ran the accolade.
Ed’s question ran as follows:
“But what deal has Masefield closed and why has he suddenly popped up on this site apropos of nothing? The last we heard of him, the company he chairs, Ioniq, wanted 10% of all Portuguese oil revenues for telling the government where the stuff was hidden. 10% is significantly more than the government's 10 cents a barrel.
"Ioniq was blanked by the government, so what deal has Mansfield closed?
"As for Mansfield's background it is public knowledge that "he is former pilot who was a face in the arms business in the UK during the John Major and Tony Blair governments. Between 1994 and 1998, Masefield chaired the Defence Export Services Organisation, all rather hush-hush with the task of promoting British arms exports. By 2007 Masefield was the Chairman of BAE Systems"
"Nothing disrespectful there I think, so what deal did he close that might explain his inclusion on this (Oilgarve) Facebook page?”
Response was there none.
This new Facebook site also sports a curious picture of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a large oil rig in the middle of the bay and a headline ‘Rio de Janeiro already has its one.’
Normally these sorts of attempts on Facebook to run publicity campaigns on behalf of hidden sponsors are dismissed as being so patently obvious as to discredit the companies behind them. This one is no exception.
If this Oilgarve Facebook platform and associated web page www.oilgarve.com (which leads nowhere) indeed are paid for by Repsol, and there is serious doubt over this claim, the Spanish oil company has made itself look foolish by seriously underestimating the intelligence of the audience and the strength of feeling over the current oil deal foisted on the Algarve’s population.
The Oilgarve’s Facebook page editor promises a Press Conference but no date is given.
Local media will appreciate the opportunity of finding out whether the Oilgarve Exploration Company, Ltd actually exists and who really is behind the Facebook facade, set up it seems to patronise the region’s population. In this it has succeeded.
Finally, the spin came to a close today with the following message from a delighted Oilgarve Facebook editor:
”We are very happy to reach 200 likes in only 3 days. It’s a pleasure for all our team to know that this project is appreciated by all Portuguese and Algarveans.”
This sort of crass spin fools no one and ought deeply to embarrass whoever is paying for this PR disaster. If Repsol really is the paymaster, why is it hiding behind a probably fictitious company, Oilgarve Exploration Company, Ltd, with the same name as an anti-oil exploration pressure group?
Whatever the reason, this attempt to change the 'hearts and minds' of the local population has got off to the worst start imaginable.
See: https://www.facebook.com/search/str/oilgarve/keywords_top
Here are the links:
Oilgarve, the original campaigning one,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/639745982755468/requests/?notif_t=group_r2j
Oilgarve, the patronising pro-oil one, which thankfully now has been hacked.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oilgarve/471092396405944?fref=ts
See also a report in The Resident:
