Afghanistan: Can Pomegranates Power The Economy?
December 5th, 2014
Via BBC, a report on Afghanistan’s economic prospects: As delegates gather in London for a conference on Afghanistan, the prospects for reducing the reliance on foreign aid are increasingly focused on two sectors of the economy: agriculture and hydrocarbons. Harvest time is coming to an end in the fruit orchards of Kandahar, a province now […]
Read more »Venezuela’s New Best Friend – Goldman Sachs
December 3rd, 2014
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an interesting report on Goldman Sachs’ recent involvement with Venezuela: Socialist Venezuela would never sell out its friends to Wall Street, right? Yet it appears that is exactly what Caracas wants to do. Pressed by the oil price collapse, rattled by fears of default, facing rising social tension as imports […]
Read more »Turkmenistan: A Real Energy Giant?
November 26th, 2014
Via Harvard University’s Belfer Center and? Rice University’s Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies, a very detailed look at Turkmenistan’s energy potential by Martha Brill Olcott, Ph.D. – Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: I. Introduction Turkmenistan has enormous gas reserves, estimated at 13.4 trillion cubic meters (473.2 trillion cubic […]
Read more »China’s Growing Demand For Turkmenistan’s Gas
November 23rd, 2014
Via BBC, a report on China’s growing appetite for Turkmen natural gas: China is a country facing huge environmental challenges as it pursues economic growth. One of its aims is to reduce its dependence on coal and switch to alternative energy sources like gas. So at an energy conference in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, China […]
Read more »North Korea: Open For Business
November 19th, 2014
Via Foreign Policy, an interesting look at Rason, a special economic zone far from the police state in Pyongyang: For the few who have ever been to North Korea, it might be a familiar feeling: that of being inside a country, while at the same time feeling outside of it. Visitors stroll through the streets […]
Read more »Iraq’s Dubai Hits The Pause Button
November 18th, 2014
Via Foreign Policy, an interesting look at Erbil where, with the Islamic State on their doorstep, Kurdish leaders have scaled back their once grandiose ambitions to focus on ensuring the survival of their enclave: Unused escalators rise up to bare concrete floors in the Ankawa mall; particle-board dividers form makeshift living spaces. Instead of shoppers […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.