More oil discoveries in Ghana

More oil discoveries in Ghana, this time the west Cape Three Points block . The same discovery is also discussed here. Would be convenient to find a summary of discoveries so far. Production in the Jubilee field started in December and is already expected to reach 850,000 barrels a day this year.

Anti-government protests in Togo

The Togolese opposition struggle on, even as popular rebellions sweep the arabic world. The government recently passed legislation banning demonstrations and street marches; recent protests against the act have been broken up by the police.

If this were taking place 1000 miles to the north, it would be front page news. Becauase it is happening in Togo, it is unimportant. That is as good a definition of "strategic" as any.

Transparency (?) in Ghana's oilfields

Intrigued by a recent article about the ongoing negotioations between the various stakeholders in Ghana's vast Jubilee oil field. Curious that two businessmen close to the former President John Kufour have ended up with a stake worth $300 million for apparently little or no initial investment.


Also: I suppose it was just a matter of time before Ivoirian refugees began to appear en masse in western Ghana. Of course, this is just the latest wave. But I wonder what accommodations have been made by the Ghanaian authorities for these refugees? When I was last there in 2005, a Liberian camp still existed just west of Accra. Just as likely that camps built for Ivoirians will be here in 15 years, one fears.

Couldn't help but be annoyed by a recent article in The Times on the decline of Detroit's population in the recent census. The article conflates the decline of the auto industry and of the inner city in the most simplistic way, ignoring a number of salient facts - that until the last decade, greater Detroit thrived while the inner city collapsed; that the decline of Detroit began long before the auto industry went into terminal decline.

In fact, it was the vigor of the industry in the 1940s and 1950s that laid the foundations for the inner city's decline. High wages allowed employees to seek a better standard of living in the suburbs, while technological innovation demanded new, larger factories on greenfield sites.

And, incidentally, Kid Rock and Emninem haven't decamped to the suburbs; they are from the suburbs.