An Unlikely Alliance: ‘Vulture’ Investors and Anti-Corruption Advocates in Emerging Markets
December 11th, 2007
From The International Herald Tribune, an interesting article on how ‘vulture’ investors may be making an unlikely & unanticipated contribution in the fight against corruption in developing countries such as the Republic of Congo. While I tend to view creditor litigation against developing countries as somewhat distasteful, given the development & economic burdens such nations […]
Read more »More Pipe(line) Dreams? Nabucco’s Future
December 11th, 2007
Via Energy Daily, an excellent review of the proposed Nabucco natural gas pipeline, a 2,050-mile-long, $7.3 billion project connecting the Caspian region, Middle East and Egypt via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary with Austria and further on with the Central and Western European gas markets. As the analysis concludes, the success of the pipeline project rests […]
Read more »Libya’s (Petro) Can-Do Approach
December 10th, 2007
As reported in The Globe and Mail, Petro-Canada signed a US$7-billion deal with the Libyan National Oil Company on energy production sharing in the North African country. Under the agreements (which have a 30-year term), Petro-Canada will pay 50 per cent of development capital costs and receive a 12 per cent share of production. Additionally, […]
Read more »Lafarge: Cementing Its Reach In Emerging Markets
December 10th, 2007
As noted in The International Herald Tribune, Lafarge – the world’s biggest cement maker – agreed to buy Egypt’s Orascom Cement for $12.8 billion in a deal that would raise its earnings and exposure to high-growth emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The deal will see Nassef Sawiris, a shareholder in Orascom Construction Industries, take an […]
Read more »China: A Bull in Iran’s Oil “Shop”
December 10th, 2007
As reported in The Financial Times, Iran signed a $2bn oil contract with Sinopec of China, sending a signal to western companies that they might miss out on potentially lucrative contracts with one of the world’s biggest energy exporters if they continued to heed US-led sanctions against Tehran. As the article notes: “…The contract to […]
Read more »SOCAR, So Good: Azeri-Kazakh Energy Cooperation
December 9th, 2007
As noted by Energy Daily, the Azeri government is actively reaching out to Kazakhstan and Russia as the Caspian’s ongoing hydrocarbon development produces a financial windfall for all. SOCAR, The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, is beginning to export its services to Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sector by conducting onshore surveys, while Baku is also […]
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.