A New Dawn for Afghanistan’s Mes Aynak Copper Mine?
July 31st, 2024
Via The Diplomat, an article on how – with a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the start of work on an access road – the Taliban and China aim to get the Mes Aynak project underway again: After 16 years of delays, last week representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban government and Chinese engineers broke ground at Mes Aynak, estimated […]
Read more »Chad, Equatorial Guinea: When Oil and Development Don’t Mix
July 31st, 2024
Via The Africa Report, a report on Chad and Equatorial Guinea – two countries that benefited from major oil discoveries in the late 1990s. But more than two decades later, despite billions of dollars in revenue, nothing has changed for the overwhelming majority of the population: In 1996, Equatorial Guinea and its 1.5 million inhabitants struck […]
Read more »The Dark Side of Tunisia’s Phosphate Boom
July 30th, 2024
Via Foreign Policy, an article on the impact that Kais Saied’s government efforts to capitalize on demand for a critical mineral is having upon Tunisia’s environment: In Tunisia’s Gafsa Valley, the desert takes on a different guise. Rather than the picturesque dunes frequented by tourists farther south, the land bears the scars of a deteriorating […]
Read more »UAE and Saudi Arabia: Race For Data Center and AI Dominance
July 30th, 2024
Via Diplomatic Courier, a report on how the UAE and Saudi Arabia are heavily investing in data center infrastructure, and the emerging rivalry is for both economic and political reasons: In recent years, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have competed to become the technological superpower of the Gulf. At the center of […]
Read more »Sri Lanka’s Underappreciated Asset: Offshore LNG
July 29th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a report on how Sri Lanka’s development of its natural gas resources will help the country overcome its economic crisis, provide energy security, and lower carbon dioxide emissions: For now, Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis seems to be in remission. Many challenges still confront the government and population, from a substantial national […]
Read more »India’s Chabahar Ambitions Amid Web Of Embargo And Secret Pacts
July 28th, 2024
Via Eurasia Review, commentary on India’s Chabahar ambitions amid a web of embargo and secret pacts: Chabahar is India’s first significant overseas port project and has become a key part of New Delhi’s foreign policy. It aims to build strong ties with resource-rich Central Asia and Afghanistan. After signing a long-term agreement in May, New […]
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.