RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Dallas-based Kosmos Energy says its exploration well off the shore of the disputed Western Sahara region has not yielded a commercial find and will be plugged.
Monday's statement, however, said the 22,000 square kilometer (8,500 square mile) block still had "substantial exploration potential" and a second well would be drilled after further analysis of the date gathered.
Morocco annexed the largely desert territory of the Western Sahara in 1975 and fought a 15-year-old war with the Polisario independence movement until a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.
A planned U.N.-sponsored referendum on the issue has never taken place and Morocco has proposed autonomy for the territory.
Western Saharans say Morocco's exploitation of the region's fishing and mineral resources is against international law.
