By Dino Mahtani
Published: October 11 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 11 2007 03:00
The suggestion that Sonangol may have its regulatory functions hived off is an indication that the Angolan national company may have ambitions to join a growing club of emerging national oil companies, Dino Mahtani writes in London.
Petrobras of Brazil and Petronas of Malaysia are just two examples of other national oil companies that have become competitors to the likes of BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ChevronTexacoworldwide.
The drive by governments in resource-rich countries to build up capacity in their national oil companies comes amid moves by many such governments to exert greater control over their oil industries.
Some national oil companies, such as Venezuela’s PdVSA and Iran’s NIOC, have failed to acquire the technical expertise to pursue their own ambitions.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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