 The disputed amendments were signed by former oil minister Zeidane Ould Hmeida in February 2004 and March 2005.Hmeida was arrested in January 2006 on charges of "serious crimes against the country's essential economic interests".Nouakchott's authorities declared that the government would likely seek international arbitration, which Woodside (which operated for Hardman, BG Group, Premier, ROC Oil, Fusion, Petronas, Dana Petroleum, Energy Africa and the Hydrocarbons Mauritanian Society) also contemplated.