Via Robert Amsterdam’s excellent blog, news that Gazprom and several Chinese state-held firms are aggressively pursuing these gas field stakes left behind by Shell in Nigeria’s troubled Ogoniland- and the government of Umaru Yar’adua has indicated that it will entertain an offer from the group bringing the best infrastructure (read corporate foreign policy) package to the table.   As noted in the article:

“…As far back as January, Gazprom was already talking about some huge “premature contracts” they were planning for Nigeria (in the order of $7 billion), which the FT described as “one of the boldest forays in the global fight for African energy assets.”

If Gazprom wins over this Shell concession, it will be bad news for Europe and the United States (more and more energy under political control, as well as Gazprom’s terrible record with inefficient flaring, which is a big problem in Nigeria) – but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve it. From all my contacts I’ve had with the Nigerian government in recent months, I continue to hear glowingly positive stories about how the Russians are playing the energy game in the Gulf of Guinea – the international super majors are having a really tough time closing this gap and understanding how to advance talks with the state…”