Bitter Sweet Oil – Film on Oil and Gas Exploration in Ghana

I got this invite for today, Thursday, in my e-mail and thought it might interest some of you.

Special Invitation to the Official Launch of Bitter Sweet Oil a Docu-Drama film on Oil &Gas exploration and Extraction in Ghana

The World Bank Ghana Office in collaboration with the Centre for Development Partnerships (CDP) & Media in Partnership for Development invites you to the Official Launch of Bitter Sweet Oil a Docu-Drama film on Oil &Gas exploration and Extraction in Ghana.

Date: Thursday, 7th October, 2010

Time: 5:30 pm

Venue: Silver Bird Cinema, Accra Shopping Mall.

So although I am not sure I understand what a “docu-drama” is, I do find it interesting to hear what the World Bank, which recently lended Ghana USD 300 million, and Centre for Development Partnerships, who I haven’t heard of before, have come up with. (Maybe it is the outcome of this call for proposals from last year? or related to the Oil and Gas dialog also of last year?)

Who’s views will they present? For who is the oil bitter and for who is it sweet?

I am also interested in seeing some visuals of this so-much-talked-about oil!

See you there?

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Have You Heard of Nigeria’s Oil Leakages?

Veronique de Viguerie / Getty Images

While the eyes of the world are fixed on the BP oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico outside of Louisiana, US, another much less publicized leak has been ongoing for decades in the oil rich Niger delta in Nigeria, reports the Guardian (and today Swedish newspaper DN).

The Guardian article states:

In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico…With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution.

What can Ghana and our emerging oil industry learn from this mess?

Pic borrowed from Veronique de Viguerie / Getty Images at Pikele.

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>Dramatic Week: Nigerian Terrorist, Togolese Team Attacked and Oil Curse

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This week passed really quickly.

I went back to work, now preparing for the spring semester. I had one friend leaving town (bye Uli!) and one coming back (Hi Tuuli!). It is somehow a big relief that the holidays are over and regular life and routines are back.

But as my personal life settled down, there were some shocking news this week that I’d like to comment on.

The Nigerian Terrorist
As I am sure you heard, a man was caught on board a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit, US with explosives. Some curious facts about this incident was that he was on the list of terrorists, the 550,000 names long list. I guess that list was too long, but that wasn’t my point. He hid the explosives in his underpants and is therefore now called the “underpants bomber”, but that wasn’t my point. He was from Nigeria and started his journey in Ghana, but that wasn’t my point either. Yesterday, in a discussion someone said American medias found it suspicious the terrorist bought his ticket in cash. Ha! Last time I bought a plane ticket in Ghana I t-r-i-e-d to pay with a credit card, but was refused. It seems like it is a forgotten fact that many parts of the world runs stricktly on cash. There are many other things to say about this thing, but I’ll leave that to my fellow bloggers Oluniyi and Obed.

The Attack on the Togolese Soccer Team
The African Cup of Nations that is supposed to take off tomorrow, Sunday, got to a horrible start when the Togo national team was attacked in DRC Congo on their way to Angola. The bus driver was killed and at least two players plus two other people were injured, according to the BBC. They were supposed to play Ghana for their first match, but the team do not know yet if they can play the tournament at all. This was the main discussion yesterday night and our sympathies go out to our neighbors in Togo!

Investigations into the Ghanaian Oil Sector
The first investigations (?) into Ghana’s new oil sector might lead to prosecution according to the Attorney General, Betty Mould Iddrisu. Fear has been raised many times that the financial blessings that come with a big oil find, might be a curse leading to the rich getting richer…Let’s see, this investigation might be good news?

Hoping for less drama next week.

Pic: Closing the door to this week and stepping out into the next.

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