On May 11, 2021, National Geographic published an article entitled “Oil company exploring in sensitive elephant habitat accused of ignoring community concerns: Namibians allege ReconAfrica disposed of wastewater unsafely, without permits, and ignored concerns about potential impact of oil drilling on water and wildlife.” The article reported, among other things, that “ReconAfrica, a Canadian company exploring for oil and gas in Namibia upstream of a world-famous UNESCO World Heritage site that’s home to elephants and other wildlife is disposing of wastewater without permits, according to a government minister.” The article detailed that “[d]rilling for the first test well began in January, and waste fluids are being stored in what appears to be an unlined pond, where they could leach into the ground and contaminate the water supply in this desert region[,]” and “Namibia’s minister of agriculture, water, and land reform, the agency responsible for water-related permits, told National Geographic in a written statement that ReconAfrica does not yet have permits approved to extract water to use in its drilling operations nor to dispose of the waste water[.]”

On this news, ReconAfrica’s stock price fell 6% to close at $7.50 per share on May 11, 2021.

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