Last year, the Gulf of Guinea alone – which oil officials consider to be the most western African coastline from northern Angola to Nigeria – produced almost five million barrels of crude oil every day, topped up with some Nigerian liquefied natural gas. At an average $50-55 per barrel last year, that much oil was worth a hundred billion dollars or so: roughly equivalent to the entire global aid budget. This sudden wealth has changed attitudes in African countries where a robust stance towards western oil companies is becoming common.
African Oil Production: Bursting with confidence
Since 2003, when oil prices began a sustained rise from $20-25 per barrel to three times that level today, Africa’s oil-producers have enjoyed a surge in revenues.
