PDVSA: Once A Cash Cow, Now On Verge Of Collapse
December 28th, 2017
Courtesy of the New York Times, a detailed report on the demise of Venezuela’s PDVSA: A general with no energy experience has been installed as the head of the state oil company. Arrests, firings and desperate emigration have gutted top talent. Oil facilities are crumbling, while production is plummeting. As the rest of the oil-producing world recovers on the […]
Read more »Afghanistan: A Hub For Central Asia?
December 24th, 2017
Via India’s Daily Opinion, commentary on efforts to position Afghanistan as a hub of Central Asia: South Asian economies are growing rapidly. According to the World Bank’s recent reports, the overall average economic growth rate for South Asian countries is forecasted to be 7.1 percent by 2018. This rapid growth has created a thirst for regional economic […]
Read more »Reuniting Afghanistan with Central Asia
December 24th, 2017
Via the Times of Central Asia, a look at efforts to reunite Afghanistan with Central Asia: In the time of the Great Game, Afghanistan was in the center of the struggle between the Russian and British empires for their influence on Central Asia. Nowadays, post-Soviet republics of Central Asia seek to build stronger economic ties […]
Read more »Geopolitics of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor
December 24th, 2017
Via The Diplomat, a look at how the Lapis Lazuli project will advance the geopolitical aspirations of the member countries — and the US: The New Silk Road initiative of the United States came to life in June 2011, when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted at regional connectivity through rail lines, highways, and energy infrastructure […]
Read more »Kabul’s Plan to Realize Afghanistan’s Geographic Dividend
December 10th, 2017
Via The Diplomat, a look at the Afghan government’s efforts to turn the country’s landlocked location into an asset: Back in 1776, Adam Smith observed that “all the inland parts” of Africa and Asia were the world’s least developed areas. Even today, well over two centuries later, most of these landlocked countries are still trapped in poverty. Countries without […]
Read more »Uzbekistan: A Quiet Revolution Taking Place
December 8th, 2017
Via Eurasia Review, a detailed look at Uzbekistan: Islam Karimov, the authoritarian strongman of Uzbekistan since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, was officially announced dead on September 2 last year. Six days later, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the country’s prime minister since 2003 and Karimov’s protégé, was appointed Uzbekistan’s Interim President by a joint […]
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.