Post-Gaddafi Libya: what has changed?
I landed in Tripoli last week just over eight weeks after my previous visit there, but during that time, momentous changes had happened in Libya. I was eager to see what changes Gaddafi’s death and Libya’s subsequent official liberation on October 23rd had brought about in the capital city. News reports of rebel forces beginning more »
In the dark about the black stuff
Last week I attended a conference, the “Forum for Media and Development 2011, called “Hype or hope; the impact of digital media on journalism and development”. As many of you will already know, at OpenOil our projects cover quite a range of topics and areas, from transparency assessments in Tripoli for Revenue Watch Institute, to, more »
Why can’t we all be friends?
The very large majority of the Libyans who we spoke to last week all seemed eager to use their newfound voices to air concerns, thoughts and ideas for the future, and rightfully so. It almost seemed like they themselves were overwhelmed by their ability for freedom of speech; having not enjoyed such a right for more »
Photo Albums
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NGO people= good, Big Oil= bad… or not
To set the scene, our trip was an assessment mission for Revenue Watch Institute, looking into transparency possibilities in and around the oil and gas sector. We decided to meet up with people from a variety of backgrounds; transparency activists, newly-established NGO workers, oil sector managers, and government officials, as well as talking to the more »
Libya’s oil industry and Wikileaks…
Of the over 7,000 State Department cables devoted to the oil industry, global there are dozens from the embassy in Tripoli that relate the comings and goings of the oil companies and the Gaddafi regime in the last few years. It’s an incredible series of stories, manouverings and large scale theft. Here is our very more »
When is an oil company not an oil company?
Question: When is an oil company not an oil company? Answer: When it’s a security contractor, a bank, a derivatives trader or manipulator of stock market value… The news this week that Heritage Oil was quietly advertising itself to those in the know as advisers to the new Libyan government, beginning with the advice that more »
Oil companies & Syria – outlining the “Dictator Fine”
The United States applied an embargo on Syrian oil sales yesterday, and the EU has tasked its diplomatic force with drawing up similar plans for an oil embargo. But what can the Syrian opposition do? They can establish sticks and carrots for oil companies, both those currently operating in Syria and those who might in more »
Drilling while Hama burns
As protesters die daily, and the international community mulls what further measures to take to isolate the Assad regime, it is business as usual in Syria’s oil industry and the international oil firms operating there. Within the last month, the AIM-listed Gulfsands, have announced discovery of new reservoirs and increased production while another, Kulczyk Oil more »
Would sanctions against Syria’s oil industry be effective?
Importance of Oil Revenues Syria’s oil and gas industry is modest by global standards but it provides a considerable amount of the Assad regime’s income. According to IMF estimates, oil revenues represented between 21% and 30% of total government income in the years 2006-10, grossing $2.8 billion in 2008 and $2.4 billion in 20091. Syria more »
Facial metal or hejab – who’s a natural ally in the transparency movement?
You’re sitting at a gate in an international airport (as I am now) and, just as a parlour game, you’re looking for the transparency constituency among your fellow passengers in oil-producing country X. There are two people from that country sitting straight opposite you on the seats, grimacing through the barely intelligible announcements of delayed more »
Iraqi & Iranian reserves… mine’s bigger than yours
So, overnight, the world has another 29 billion barrels of oil after Iraq decided to upgrade its proven reserves from 114 billion to 143 billion barrels based on new evaluations of West Qurna and Zubair fields in the south. That’s pretty much an entire year of global demand right there. Although the details are a more »
Public oil prospecting in Yemen 3: what happens if it succeeds?
Suppose you’ve won the policy argument and even managed to persuade a donor to put her money down while simultaneously managing an incomprehending and at times openly hostile public opinion and media. Suppose also it all happened: terms of reference were set, a bid process launched and a reputable exploration company won the bid and more »
Public oil prospecting in Yemen 2: how would it work?
The most appropriate public role might be to step in at the earliest stage in the value chain, with seismic data acquisition and processing, and perhaps also some reprocessing of old perhaps data, not even progressing to appraisal work and exploration wells (certainly not in the case of the offshore fields where the cost would more »
Public oil prospecting in Yemen 1: why bother?
I have been invited to speak at Chatham House in November on Yemen. The discussion will be somewhat about Yemen’s EITI process, which is struggling if truth be told. But also there will be a rare chance to discuss publicly funded oil prospecting – and in this case, whether the international community should entertain the more »
