Ghana, Ivory Coast Negotiate Maritime Dispute

The presidents of Ivory Coast and Ghana held talks in Geneva on Monday on a maritime border dispute that has frozen new oil drilling in a contested area, a spokesman for mediator Kofi Annan said.

An international tribunal ruled last month that Ghana could continue developing a $4.9 billion offshore oil project in the area but imposed a ban on new drilling.

The decision by the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was regarded as positive for Ghana and British oil firm Tullow, which leads a consortium developing the TEN field, where it has already drilled the wells it needs to start production.

Ivory Coast's presidency said President Alassane Ouattara left Abidjan on Sunday for the talks with his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama, mediated by former U.N. secretary general Annan.

"Mr Annan is presiding at the talks," said a spokesman for the Kofi Annan Foundation in Geneva.

He declined to give details of the conversations but said the two sides might make a statement on Monday.

Last month's decision by the Hamburg tribunal did not judge the merits of the case and the court is expected to make a final ruling in 2017.

Analysts have said that precedent suggests it is unlikely to redraw the current equidistant maritime boundary.

Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly