Offshore States and petro-terrorism : geopolitical implications of oil and gas discoveries and security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea

Offshore states and petro-terrorism

Oil and gas discoveries have served as a foundation for economic prosperity in many countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Norway, and Qatar. Yet the catastrophes experienced by some countries-especially in Africa south of the Sahara-despite the discovery of vast natural hydrocarbon deposits should not be ignored.

The development of new oil and gas fields has placed the Gulf of Guinea at the centre of a nexus of greed on the part of foreign powers, Big Oil corporations and criminal groups. The Gulf of Guinea has become a theatre where rivalries to play out between developed countries seeking to control the energy resources of the region, which holds a quarter of Africa's gas resources. It is also the new global epicentre of piracy and maritime criminality, ahead of the Gulf of Aden.

The probable expansion of terrorist activities to the Atlantic coast threatens the profitability of investments by majors such as BP, TotalEnergies, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron, as well as the collection of tax revenues by Africa's new offshore states.