“In all countries where we operate, we believe we have a duty to advocate respect for human rights where there are abuses and we will strive to ensure that in this regard our actions are scrupulously fair and that we lead by example.”[1]

-         Talisman President and CEO Jim Buckee

In the increasingly global and modern economy beset by increased demands for highly sought strategic resources, extractive multinational corporations (MNCs) are willing to travel to the ends of the earth in order to secure valuable materials whether essential metals, precious stones or more importantly fossil fuels. Judgment of a company’s public policies and operating realities must be made.  “Talisman Energy Inc. is the largest independent oil and gas company in Canada, and perhaps the third or fourth largest in the world.”[2]  Operating on five continents, this MNC has ongoing operations in thirteen countries[3] and continues to expand globally, pursuing oil and natural gas interests.  Formerly a subsidiary of British Petroleum, Talisman recently became “an independent company in 1992.”[4]  Since then, it has steadily grown to acquire a greater market share within the industry.  During the late 1990s, it acquired Arakis Energy Corporation giving it a “25% interest in the oil exploration and development project in Sudan.”[5]  Shortly after the company obtained and expanded the new operations in Sudan, a storm of criticism erupted across the Canadian and American political landscapes based on allegations that Talisman acted in complicity with the Sudanese regime during its civil war.

A basic understanding of Sudan and its history of conflict are necessary before investigating the actions of Talisman.  The history of the Sudan has been steeped in conflict both prior to and subsequent to European expansionism.  From General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon’s last stand in Khartoum to the current genocide in Darfur, sharp ethnic and religious divides have grown with the increased violence.  Since the Sudanese independence in 1956 a continued state of civil war only interrupted by sporadic ceasefires has raged.  Rival ethnic groups alienated from each other by a multiplicity of religions has led to many conflicts between the Muslim dominated north of the country and the predominantly Christian and animist south.  The situation gradually became open to outside influences.

After Chevron’s initial discovery of oil in 1979, “in 1980, it made a significant discovery in the Unity/Talih area north of Bentiu in Western Upper Nile, and by May 1982, it had [also] discovered substantial reserves of oil in Heglig, just inside South Kordofan.”[6]  Following the deaths of several workers, Chevron sold its stakes to Arakis, which was then bought up by Talisman Energy Inc.  Talisman’s 25% stake combined with the investments of other developers together created the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC).  The company had made profit sharing agreements with the Khartoum regime and successfully extracted mineral resources during the civil war in Southern Sudan.  Khartoum, enabled to secure foreign arms and technologies strengthened its genocidal campaign in the mainly Christian South.

Responding to international public pressure, Talisman in 2000 issued the Corporate Social Responsibility Report attempting to validate their positive intentions, social and economic, for oil development in southern Sudan.  Here, Talisman CEO and President Jim Buckee stated that, “We have always believed that companies should operate in a manner that respects the right of local communities to benefit from their presence.”[7]  Talisman further cites that they have contributed to the funding of key roads in their oil concession area providing easier local access to travel between previously isolated communities[8].  The ironies seem to have eluded them.  The Government of Canada’s Harker Report cited that:

“On May 9th 1999, a new offensive was launched from the Nuba Mountains and Pariang. Antonovs and helicopter gunships supported troops using armoured personnel carriers. Roads built by the oil companies enabled these to reach their destinations more easily than before. The village of Biem was destroyed, and the burning of tukuls and theft of cattle ranged as far as Padit Biem, which we visited, was badly damaged.”[9]

Talisman ignores the implications of their own role in abetting the Sudanese armed forces that attacked and forcibly moved any locals unlucky enough to live within the proximity of foreign oil concessions.  Moreover, another piece of infrastructure, the GNPOC’s Heglig airstrip designed to service the oil extraction facilities has since been appropriated and used repeatedly by Sudanese authorities as a base for bombers and attack helicopters.  Talisman ingenuously admits that:

“We believe that there were at least four instances of non-defensive usage of the Heglig airstrip in 2000. On these occasions helicopters or planes landed on the airstrip for reasons that we could not determine were related to oilfield security and their presence was considered non-defensive by Talisman.  Talisman has consistently requested that incidents of this kind do not occur.”[10]

Apparently, Talisman’s complaints do not go that far according to the Harker Report in which the mission leader stated:

“We are troubled, however, by other credible reports, that the military use of Heglig airstrip has been more or less constant since May 1999, interrupted not by protest but by such events as the appearance in the area of the team of financial analysts taken to Heglig by Talisman, or even our own arrival there in early December, 1999. One report we have received has it that during our own visit, the military aviation was relocated to Muglad, a town north west of Heglig.”[11]

            Talisman’s relationship with the Sudanese might be considered equally ambiguous on a more individual level.  As with any other Canadian company the legal premise that it is an equal opportunity employer is publicly asserted.  Moreover, in their overseas operations they emphasize the number of skilled and un-skilled domestic workers in their production facilities.  In the 2000 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the company proudly stated that, “Sudanese Nationals held 72% of all skilled and unskilled positions at GNPOC.”[12]  Setting up an office only in Khartoum, however, left the majority of the local applicants unable to obtain employment with the company as Arab Muslims transferred from the North secured the vast majority of the lucrative jobs with the GNPOC.  On this point, Talisman asserts that, it “established a hiring policy in December 2000 which promoted the hiring of local people.”[13]  Note the emphasis is on promotion and not actualization.  In stark contrast to Talisman’s claims, the Government of Canada’s investigation revealed the disturbing news, “that in August 1999, 8 Nuer [local tribesmen] went to Heglig to seek work from GNPOC, and were killed for it.”[14]

            Since the imbroglio in Sub-Saharan Africa, Talisman “finalized the $1.2 billion sale of its controversial oil holdings in Sudan”[15] realizing that the oil reserves in that region were not worth the public relations nightmare emerging from the country.  Though Talisman recently left the African nation, this does not exonerate the corporation.   Admittedly, the civil war in Southern Sudan would still have developed without the presence of Talisman, as surely there would have been an alternate investor.  Distortions of publicly stated policies and the actions conducted by this corporation with the Sudanese regime are unjustifiable.  The Harker Report very realistically observes the damage done to Canada’s image abroad when it states, “it is the perception of these southerners that the Government of Canada is either supportive of or indifferent to that collaboration.”[16]  Talisman’s recent attempts to clean up their public image are pathetic as they fail to recognize their pernicious role in the Sudan.  Finally, only one thing is certain, the certainty is as commodity prices continue to soar, extractive multinationals will be courting disaster as they become increasingly drawn to more remote and frequently politically unstable regions to satisfy augmented demands for resources and increased profits.  To counter this dilemma, Canadian companies must incorporate in their commitments and operations, moral and ethical standards for which they can and will be held accountable both at home and abroad.