How Chevron Aims to Tap More Oil Below Kazakhstan’s Grassy Plains
January 5th, 2026
Courtesy of The New York Times, a look at how – after spending nearly $50 billion to expand Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oil field – the American oil giant and its partners encounter more uncertainty: More than two miles below the windswept steppe of western Kazakhstan, porous rocks composed of the skeletons of coral and other ancient […]
Read more »Egypt To Develop Djibouti’s Port In Bid To Pressure Ethiopia Over Nile Dam
January 2nd, 2026
Via The National News, a report on Egypt’s deal to develop Djibouti’s port in a bid to pressure Ethiopia over the GERD Nile dam: Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamel El Wazir concluded a milestone visit to Djibouti this week, where he finalised a deal to develop the Doraleh port on the Gulf of Aden. The Egyptian […]
Read more »The Berbera Gambit: How Somaliland’s Port is Redrawing the Map of the Horn
January 1st, 2026
Via The Africa Report, commentary on how Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has ignited a regional firestorm, but the real struggle is for control of the maritime gateways and security corridors flanking the Red Sea: The three giant ship-to-shore cranes towering over Somaliland’s Gulf of Aden coast are more than just tools of logistics. For DP World, […]
Read more »Forget Lobito. Is West Africa’s ‘Liberty Corridor’ the Next Frontier for Trump’s Minerals Diplomacy?
December 31st, 2025
Via The Africa Report, a look at how the Trump administration is navigating a high-stakes influence battle between mining giants Ivanhoe Atlantic and ArcelorMittal over the strategic rail infrastructure project in Liberia designed to unlock West Africa’s massive iron ore deposits: The Donald Trump administration is caught in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar squabble between two mining […]
Read more »How China and the Gulf States are Shaping Central Asia’s Energy Transition
December 31st, 2025
Via East Asia Forum, an article on how China and the Gulf states are shaping Central Asia’s energy transition: China and the Gulf states are expanding renewable energy investment in Central Asia. Through complementary competition, they vie for influence while occupying distinct and often mutually supportive roles in clean energy projects, particularly in Kazakhstan and […]
Read more »Building Runways, Not Bridge: Qatar Charts A Different Path Into Africa
December 31st, 2025
Via The Africa Report, a look at how – as a politically palatable financier – Doha gains leverage by creating conference hubs linking the airways: In the great game of Gulf statecraft played out on African soil, the United Arab Emirates prefers concrete and cranes, snapping up ports from Berbera to Dar es Salaam. Saudi Arabia, seeking food […]
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.