Western Sahara

News in Brief

A huge investment fund has divested from two oil companies because of their role in the illegal exploitation of the oil resources of Western Sahara (illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975).

Norway’s $835bn sovereign wealth fund dropped Cairn Energy (based in Edinburgh, Scotland) and Kosmos Energy (from Dallas, Texas, USA), after a report from an independent council of ethics.

There was an authoritative legal opinion on this in 2002, given by ambassador Hans Corell, then head of the UN secretariat office of legal affairs. Corell has specifically said that the drilling by Cairn and Kosmos is illegal because it was not in accordance with the wishes and the interests of the people of Western Sahara.


Topics: Western Sahara