John Helmer, Mineweb
Russian energy and mining companies are preparing for the visit to Africa early next month of President Vladimir Putin. But the black backdrop of the visit, the first in half a century by a Russian head of state, is the increasingly aggressive reaction of the Bush administration in Washington to the combination of arms and business which the Russians are offering those whom the US considers to belong to its camp.

Behind the scenes then of the Russian initiatives toward South Africa, Angola and Namibia -- the three countries currently on Putin's agenda for September 5-10 -- there is a US campaign of threats, inducements, and even sanctions...

There is considerable potential for joint oil search ventures with the Russians in Angola, where LUKoil, Russia's largest oil producer and exporter, is negotiating concessions; and in other African countries where PetroSA is also active; these include Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Gabon, Sudan, Mozambique, and Algeria.

The Algerian case is one of the few in Africa to trigger a US reaction. In March, during President Putin's visit to Algiers, agreement was struck for the supply of aircraft, missile batteries, and other arms. At the same time, Algeria's state gas corporation Sonatrach and its Russian counterpart Gazprom initialled a protocol with the intention of expanding their cooperation in exploring for fresh gas sources in the Sahara, share markets for gas in Europe and North America, and exchange technology for gas liquefication.

According to Russian sources, the US has applied political pressure on Sonatrach not to complete its cooperation agreement. As a result, the formal signing in Moscow has been twice postponed. It was finalized last Friday with agreements between Sonatrach, Gazprom, and LUKoil.
(7 Aug 2006)

Russians prepare for African energy, mining push