By Nathan Bomey | – When his final press conference as secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries came to an end last week, Abdallah Salem el-Badri finally addressed the whispers that have been circulating throughout the oil markets. Energy industry observers are howling that “OPEC is dead,” El-Badri acknowledged, after the group again failed to reach an agreement to cap oil production that would bolster sagging prices. His frustration was evident. “I have heard this comment maybe five, six times in my career,” he told reporters …

By Frisky Larrmay | – Today, the picture that meets the eyes is one of a government that didn’t seem to know how to get out of the subsidy quagmire in the aftermath of a quiet policy reversal probably necessitated by prevailing circumstances and a government that doesn’t seem to know the mood and trend of thoughts among ordinary Nigerians. An  unnecessary own-goal indeed. Who doesn’t remember Muhammadu Buhari’s infamous interview before he became President? He talked elaborately about fuel subsidies, stressing very clearly that the measure …

By Soren Kirk Jensen | – The IMF can encourage reform, but success depends on genuine Angolan government appetite to embrace deep structural changes rather than short-term measures. Armando Manuel, Angola’s finance minister, emphasized his country’s excellent relations with the international financial institutions in his February speech at Chatham House. There was no hint at that time however that Angola was shortly to seek financial support from the IMF. In Angolan government circles, IMF assistance is seen as coming with too many conditions, and most …

By Ifeanyi  Izeze | – Every day is for the thief but one day is for the owner of the house and from all indications, the day to seek reprieve for communities battered by the irresponsible operations of foreign multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta seems to be gradually coming. Those who know would attest to just how irresponsible Shell and some other foreign multinational oil companies have been in their operations in the region. And to say Shell and the rest of them …

By Davide Barbuscia and Katie McQue | – Staring down the barrel of long-term weak oil prices, 2016 will be painful for Nigeria’s oil sector. The nation’s indigenous firms that rose to prominence to purchase oil fields from supermajors such as Chevron, Shell and Total are now in deep distress. The billions of debt they raised for these acquisitions risk going unpaid with oil revenues a fraction of 2013 levels. The scramble to prevent firms such as Aiteo and Newcross from defaulting has begun. And with some banks looking to leave loan syndicates, the …

By Franscesca Brindle | – Recent discussions regarding cuts in oil production briefly lifted the price of oil on Friday (12 February 2016), only for the reality of opposing countries intentions to bring them crashing back down. While Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia have all publically agreed to cut production in order to restore a balance to the global oil market, Iran feels that to impose new restrictions on its newly sanction-lifted output would be ‘illogical’ and unfair. Mehdi Asali, as quoted in the Iranian …

By Clar Ni Chonghaile | – By relying on ready cash from oil and metals extraction, sub-Saharan African countries risk squandering their chance to invest in the continent’s future As leaders of some African countries brace themselves for a rocky financial year, they might reflect ruefully on the words of Polish author Ryszard Kapuściński: “Oil is a resource that anaesthetises thought, blurs vision, corrupts.” As the wheels come off a decade-long commodities supercycle, Africa’s oil-producing and metal-rich giants find themselves facing a dangerous mix of lower …

By Paul Burkhardt | – “On the brink of a boom,” was the banner on PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s review of Africa’s oil industry 16 months ago. Now, oil below $50 has made more than two out of three investment projects on the continent non-viable. “Capital markets are effectively closed to the oil and gas industry” in Africa, Tony Hayward, former head of BP Plc and now chairman of Genel Energy Plc, said at a conference in Cape Town last month. “A decade of exploration, with billions …