Via Energy Daily, an update on China’s energy “shopping spree” in Africa. As the article notes: China’s oil companies, buoyed by the country’s foreign exchange reserves that now top $2 trillion for the first time, are on another buying spree in Africa, further challenging the century-long domination of the continent’s mineral wealth by Europe’s great […]
Read more »Via Stratfor (subscription required), an excellent analysis of how the rugged terrain of Sub-Saharan Africa prevents industrialization and modern infrastructure from taking hold and engenders chronic political instability. As a result, the article notes, most foreign investment goes to resource extraction, especially offshore projects protected from the disruptions that are rife on land: “…Foreign direct […]
Read more »From The Oil Drum, an excellent analysis of Angola’s oil future. As the article notes: “Angola is one of the few oil producing countries with a bright future ahead. Decades of war prevented the country from developing its energy resources properly, but is now becoming one of the largest world oil exporters in a period […]
Read more »As reported in a recent Financial Times article, with Europe concerned over Russia’s political motives in exploiting its energy wealth and big international companies shut out or deterred from investing in the Middle East, many eyes have turned to Africa in the hope of securing future supplies of gas. However, as companies scramble to gain […]
Read more »As reported by Reuters, high oil prices and the onslaught of resource nationalism from Russia to South America have sent Western majors delving ever deeper into the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, triggering a new scramble for Africa. As the article notes: “…Unlike more established oil-producing regions, the Gulf of Guinea offers easy access […]
Read more »Via Stratfor (subscription required), a highly interesting report about an emerging partnership between state-owned Angolan oil company Sonangol and Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras). The results could transform the global oil industry as any Brazilian-Angolan cooperation could herald the large-scale entry of Petrobras into the Angolan offshore, giving the world its first (but certainly not last) supermajor […]
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