Delays and disputes over a gas-fired industrial project could damage
President John Atta Mills ahead of next year’s elections
The promise that an offshore gas pipeline and processing plant – a cornerstone of Ghana’s new industrial plan – will be completed around the time of the presidential...
A huge payout by Shell for spilling oil will not necessarily help those who suffered from the environmental damage
On 3 August, the oil giant Shell agreed in the London High Court to settle a compensation claim for oil spills in Bodo, in the Niger Delta. This...
As the Bodo case was being settled, a damning United Nations report estimated the cost of an environmental clean-up in Ogoni at US$1 billion over up to 30...
The Chairman of the Board of the Société africaine de raffinage (SAR) is Serigne Mboup, a one-time ally of former Prime Minister Macky Sall, who is expected to...
Pressure is growing for greater accountability and
transparency in oil and mining operations, especially in Africa, due to
the strengthening of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
and the imminent application of the United States’ Dodd-Frank Act. Yet
major disagreements between companies, governments and anti-corruption
activists emerged at the EITI’s biennial conference in Paris on 2-3
March, its biggest ever. Large oil companies, led by Royal Dutch Shell,
argue that any extension of the compulsory accountability provisions of
the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act would
undermine voluntary agreements such as EITI (AC Vol 51 No
19).
European and African officials backed moves at the Paris conference to toughen laws on company payment disclosures, despite strong opposition from oil and mining companies, including some who...