An oil expert, Mr Jean Charles has said he is of the opinion that the whole issue of the oil-lifting contract involving Sahara had been blown out of proportion.

In an interview with The Accra Mail, the oil expert, among whose clients are Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said after 27 years in the business he would like to work with people and companies with a goal and believes Sahara is one such.

"I have not seen, since the late eighties a company that wants to reinvest and grow as Sahara. Sahara, in a sense for me is the pay off of so many years I have tried to develop the Nigerian flag." He says of Sahara, "they are ship owners, they are tanker owners, they are partners with professionals. They have two tankers, which they own; they have other vessels on hire for a long period with the option to purchase."

"In the oil business, when someone takes a contract from you, you cannot believe what people can do to put a bad name on you", he said.