Algerian contracts catch rising oil price wave

With the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket of seven crudes trading at little under $23/b at end-September, African hydrocarbons economies can expect a mini-boom after a period when they seemed more likely to go bust. The signs coming from companies canvassed by FTAE is that planned projects, which in the first half of 1999 seemed set to remain in mothballs, are now going ahead — for example in deep-water Angola and Nigeria. However, international oil companies’ drive for cost-cutting and consolidation will continue, reflected in reports that Shell Exploration & Production plans to cut more jobs.