Iraq seeks $2 billion upfront for oil supply contract as its economy falters

A decade ago, I was for a longer visit in Lome – Togo. I met with some high dignitaries there. When I sat at the dining table with a relative of the president, I told him that I am not an upstream man but that there was a lot of oil and gas in Nigeria and also quite something in Ghana. Togo was sandwiched in between so maybe it would make sense to look for that there as well. He told me that there was no interest because as soon as oil would be found, the money coming in would destroy the country. Countries living off things they scrape out of the soil mostly don’t develop proper economies. The curse is alive.

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