The first round of auctions to award important works of oil exploration and production in Mexico will begin early next year, with 169 blocks covering an area of 28,500 square kilometers to tender as a result of extensive reforms introduced last year to open industries electricity and gas to private investment.
The government has pledged to increase exploration for gas in the National Development Plan and promulgated a 20-year Integrated Resource Plan to diversify the energy mix by boosting nuclear, natural gas and renewable power generation capacities. With an estimated 3.5% of global coal reserves, South Africa has traditionally benefitted from an ample supply of cheap fuel. It has the fifth-most...
South Africa’s mining industry is the fifth largest in the world and the country has around 80% of global platinum reserves, 11% of gold reserves, and some of the largest supplies of chrome ore and manganese. The sector’s contribution to GDP has, however, been on a steady decline, falling to just under 5% in 2013 from 11% two decades earlier. Reversing this trend is a top government priority,...
In April 2014 South Africans celebrated the 20th anniversary of both the end of apartheid and the creation of the modern Republic of South Africa. These two events highlight just how far South Africa has come in the past two decades, during which the nation’s numerous assets have contributed to its rise as one of Africa’s leading economic and diplomatic players.
Economic update | Papua New Guinea steps on the gas
A surge in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports is expected to nearly treble the pace of economic growth in Papua New Guinea in 2015 putting the South Pacific island nation at the top of the league of fast-growing economies and helping it bridge a widening budget deficit.
For millennia Egypt has been one of the most strategically important places on earth, and often one of its most culturally influential. Despite significant structural issues and the political instability of the past few years, it remains a country of great regional and global importance.