FEATURE-Equatorial Guinea's oil boom leaves poor behind

[seemslikeadream]

Equatorial Guinea's crude oil production has risen from next to nothing a decade ago to 350,000 barrels per day, making it sub-Saharan Africa's third-biggest producer after Nigeria and Angola. Oil represents 90 percent of the state's income.

It is a prize that foreign oil firms have lined up to get a share of, with U.S. company Exxon Mobil at the front of the queue -- and authorities say oil was the reason behind a failed mercenary coup attempt six months ago.

The surge in oil revenues has boosted real gross domestic product (GDP) by rates many countries can only dream of -- 37.5 percent in 2001, 17.6 in 2002, and almost 15 percent last year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which predicts growth of 45.1 percent in 2005.

The government budget for 2004 puts oil revenues at 539.7 billion CFA francs ($1 billion). That figure is based on an average oil price of $25 per barrel, well under the record highs it has fetched this year.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0620779.htm

[hatrack]

1. Gosh, color me unsurprised nt

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