The United States, Ghana and oil: Global and local perspectives

African Affairs

Volumn 107, Issue 428, 2008, Pages 313-332

  McCaskie, Tom C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEEP DRILLING; ENERGY POLICY; ENERGY RESOURCE; HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION; OIL SUPPLY;

AFRICA; ANGOLA; GHANA; MOROCCO; NORTH AFRICA; NORTH AMERICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; UNITED STATES; WEST AFRICA;

EID: 46149092262     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: 14682621     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/afraf/adn019     Document Type: Article

References (75)

1. I thank all the Ghanaian politicians, officials, and friends who talked with me off the record about the subiect matter of this article. Not least, their conversation was invaluable in pointing me towards materials in the oublic domain that I profited from reading.
2. See S. Hanson. 'The Pentagon's new Africa Command' (paner prepared for the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, 3 May 2007).
3. for the ASC briefing document see 'Africa Command: US strate6c interests and the role of the US military in Africa' (paper prepared by the Conaressional Research Service, CRS OC RL34003, 6 Tuly 2007),
4. for AFRICOM see Scan McFate, 'Briefing US Africa Command: Next step or next stumble?', African Affairs 107, 426 (2008), pp. 111-10.
5. United States Conaress, 'Senate Armed Services Committee nominations hearing'. held in the Hart Senate Office Building, Washington. Thursday 27 September 2007.
6. Oil industrv data estimated that Nigeria exported 38.3 million barrels of oil to the United States in the first nine months of 2007, not far behind Saudi Arabia's 43.4 million barrels.
7. Chris Alden, China in Alfrica (Zed Books, London, 2007);
8. Nicholas Shaxson, Poisoned Wells: The dirty politics of African oil (Palarave Macmillan, New York, 2007);
9. Andy Rowell, James Marriott. and Lorne Stockman, The Next Gulf: London. Washington and oil conflict in Nigeria (Constable and Robinson, London, 2005).
10. See M. Klare, Bush-Cheney Energy Strategy: Procuring the rest of the world's oil (Foreign Policy in Focus, Washinaton DC and Silver City NM, 2004);
11. M. Abramowitz and S. Mufson, 'Papers detail industry's role in Cheney's energy report'. Washington Post, 18 July 2007.
12. See T. Holt. 'It's the oil'. London. Review of Books 29, 20 (18 October 2007). nn. 3-4, which argues that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was designed to plant a long-term US miltary presence in that country in order to exploit its oil reserves and to end US dependence on Saudi Arabia.
13. See D. Montague, 'Africa: The new oil and military frontier' (paper prepared for the Arms Trade Resource Center (ATRC), New York, 20 September 2002).
14. Duncan Clarke, Empires of Oil: Corporate oil in barbarian worlds (Profile Books, London, 2007). pp. 253-6. is an insider's account of these manoeuvres.
15. See H. J. Cohen, 'The United States and Africa: Non-vital interest also require attention'. American. Diplomacy: Foreign Servire Despatches and Periodic Reports on United States Foreign Policy 8 (2003);
16. AD is an electronic quarterly, published by American Diplomacy Publishers, a non-profit organization created by Foreigy Service personnel in North Carolina. Cohen's paper is also available at .
17. See further J. S. Morrison, 'AFRICOM' (paper prepared for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, 5 October 2007).
18. For obituaries consult The New York Times, 14 November 2004;
19. The Houston Chronicle, 7 November 2004;
20. The San Diezo Union-Tribune, 23 November 2004.
21. Maxted's Halbouty Lecture, entitled 'Exploration perspectives and paradigms: Finding oil in the future', was Oven on 19 April 2004.
22. For the text see AAPd Explorer Online, (Tune 2004).
23. For licences and holdings see .
24. For Anadarko see the New York Times business archive at
25. for comment see Yaw Adu-Asare, Ghana - in Search of Illusive Positive Change: A performance review of the first Kufuor administration (Primus, New York, 2006), pp. 106 ff.
26. See Tullow Oil's corporate website at
27. and see 'Ireland's Tullow Oil feasts on leftovers: The Indie ooerator is cleaning in places the majors passed over'. Business Week, 28 March 2005.
28. Consult here N. Smith, G. Tari, T. Manu, N. Adzei-Akpor, and D. Valasek, 'Regional-scale tectonostratigyraphic evolution and petroleum system of the Tano Basin, Ghana' (paper presented at the panel on 'New insights into the East Atlantic margin and sub-Saharan Africa'. AAPG Annual Conference, Dallas, 11-14 September 2005).
29. See Kosmos Enerav. 'Kosmos Energy's Mahogany-1 well discovers oil offshore Republic of Ghana' (news release via Business Wire, 18 June 2007);
30. 'Hyedua-1 well confirms Kosmos Energy's Mahogany field discoverv offshore Ghana' (ibid., 22 August 2007).
31. See CITAC Consultants, 'Cote d'Ivoire - oil and aas: Crude petroleum and natural gas' (briefing paper. Paris, 2007).
32. At the same time AGIP and its partner ENU built three more refineries on the Tema model in Coruzo-Zaire, Tanzania and Zambia.
33. See H. A. Mensah, 'Ghana's oil refinery hit by resignations'. (28 September 2005).
34. T. C. McCaskie and L. Brydon, interviews with John Elliot Paa Kwesi Hagan, Accra, 1983.
35. A good overview is Paul Gifford, Ghana's New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a globalising African economy (C. Hurst, London, 2004).
36. BBC, 'Ghana "will be an African Tiger"' (news release, London, 19 June 2007).
37. See , General News, Trez aspirants pay C10m to speak', 8 October 2007.
38. Accra Daily Mail, 20 June 2007.
39. For an extreme example see Ghana Review International, Gri News (Politics and National Development), 'Your view point', message from 'George in Norway', 19 June 2007.
40. See 'Ghana has huge oil potential - GNPC', , Business News (3 July 2007).
41. BBC, 'Ghana "will bean African Tiger"'.
42. See Jubilation over oil discoverv'. . General News (19 Tune 2007).
43. Consult T. C. McCaskie, 'Asante, Apagyafie and President Kufuor of Ghana: A historical interpretation' in T. Falola (ed..), The Changing Worlds of Atlantic Africa: Essays in honor of Robin Law (Carolina Academic Press, Durham, NC, in press).
44. See 'Minister storms Parliament with "dirty oil"', , General News (20 Tune 2007.)
45. ibid., 'Minority commends oil find, but says it's 37 years old' (19 Tune 2007).
46. See ibid., 'Oil war: Minority debunks government claims' (21 Tune 2007).
47. 'Tullow plumbs depths, finds "elephant"', Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine, September 2007.
48. See 'GNPC "rejects" 800 in barrel oil discoverv', , General News (29 August 2007).
49. Consult most recently James Kiernan (ed.), The Power of the Occult in Modern Africa: Continuity and innovation in the renewal of African cosmologies (Lit Verlag, Berlin. 2006).
50. Consult 'God Will Durge Parliament - bishop'. , General News (21 October 2007)
51. Only 10% of Ghana's gold has been discovered - preacher'. (18 October 2007).
52. For some discussion see T. C. McCaskie, 'Water wars in Kumasi, Ghana'in Paul Nugent and Francesca Locatelli (eds), African Cities: Competing claims on urban space (Brill, Leiden. in press);
53. the EIU's Ghana Report (May 2007) is available by subscription from .
54. See 'NPP lacks coherent energy policy - EIU', , General News (24 July 2007).
55. Ibid., 'Govt spent C2 trillion to solve energy crisis' (14 September 2007).
56. Ibid., 'Ex-Energy Minister speaks on the energy situation' (26 August 2007).
57. Ibid., 'Floods hit Accra' (27 March 2007). 'Floods destroy properties in Kumasi' (27 April 2007); 'Five dead, property destroyed in Accra floods'(3 June 2007).
58. Ibid., 'Flood causes deaths and damage in Upper East Re6on' (28 Auaust 2007);
59. 'Ghana Red Cross - almost 400,00 have lost their homes' (14 September 2007);
60. 'Floods: UN sends disaster assessment team' (15 September 2007);
61. '56 deaths reported in flood disaster' (28 September 2007).
62. See Oxford Analytica, 'Ghana: Floods bail out power suppyly problem' (26 September 2007).
63. See the website of the West African Gas Pipeline Company Ltd, .
64. For a critical view see Friends ofthe Earth International, The Myths of the West African Gas Pipeline (FOEL London, 2006);
65. for delays see 'Progress on aas pipeline to be evaluated', . General News (3 Auaust 2007).
66. For protests see 'Courting mega-disaster: Bui Dam may cause havoc' (briefing paper prepared for the UN Environmental Programme, Global 500 Forum, 1999);
67. D. Bennett and B. Basuglo, Final Report of the Aberdeen University Black Volta Expedition (Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, 1997);
68. World Rainforest Movement, 'Ghana: A dam at the cost of the trees' (Bulletin 102, 2006).
69. For Chinese participation see 'China to back $600 m Bui Dam project', , News from The Statesman (Accra) (4 November 2006).
70. Ibid.
71. See J. T. Bennett, 'US AFRICOM faces African concerns'. (10 January 2007);
72. 'US military base in Africa: Will it be in Ghana?'. . General News (24 Aoril 2007)
73. ibid., 'Kufuor holds talks with US Deputy Commander' (6 August 2007).
74. Ibid., 'Go beyond oil and minerals extraction - JAK' (17 July 2007).
75. Ibid., 'Some ministers were non-performers' (29 Auaust 2007).