Libya’s Rival NOC Oil Companies Agree To Merge
July 5th, 2016
Courtesy of Reuters, an article on consolidation in the Libyan petroleum sector: Libya’s state energy company National Oil Corporation has agreed to merge with a rival company established in the east by one of the country’s two former competing governments, the NOC said in a statement. The merging of the two NOCs is a positive […]
Read more »Venezuela’s Energy Profile
November 30th, 2015
Via Eurasia Review, a look at Venezuela’s energy sector: Venezuela is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of crude oil. The country has been one of the largest exporters of crude oil in the Americas. As a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela is an important player […]
Read more »Russian Energy Giants: A Rough Road Ahead
October 16th, 2015
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), interesting commentary on Rosneft and Gazprom: Forecast Rosneft will face difficulty as Moscow prioritizes the government’s financial and political needs over those of the oil firm. Gazprom’s piped natural gas export monopoly will eventually end, spurring competition between the Russian energy firms for customers at home and abroad. Russian President […]
Read more »Cuba Hoping To Kickstart Offshore Oil & Gas Industry
July 23rd, 2015
Via Stasha Macro World, an interesting look at Cuba’s effort to kickstart its offshore petroleum activities: The Cuban oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, is close to a deal with Angola’s state-run Sonangol to get Cuba’s deepwater energy exploration program up and running three years after work was suspended because of failure to find any oil […]
Read more »Sonangol: National Oil Company And Government Backbone
September 2nd, 2014
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), an interesting look at Sonangol, Angola’s national oil company: Summary Before Angola’s independence in 1975, Portugal imposed a contentious and hastily thrown together power-sharing deal among Angola’s three main ethnic groups: the Bakongo, Mbundu and Ovimbundu. This pact unraveled quickly after independence as Angola descended into a three-way civil war. […]
Read more »From New York Heroin Dealer To Afghanistan’s Biggest Oil Man
July 8th, 2014
Via Reuters, an interesting story on Afghanistan’s nascent oil industry: One-eyed Rateb Popal’s debut as an Afghan businessman was not promising: he was caught smuggling heroin and locked up in a New York federal prison for almost a decade. Popal had better luck once back in Afghanistan, where he emerged from obscurity to make millions […]
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.