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Foreword

Geo-extractive resources are a source of income for countries that have them and occupy a large part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of some countries. They have been the basis of the economic and industrial development of many countries. Petroleum resources (oil and natural gas) in particular are strategically important energy sources and played a prominent and decisive role during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. In addition to their interest for development, oil resources are also at the origin of environmental disasters, endogenous tensions and wars between certain states. This bipolar dimension or duality characterizing the use of this resource is linked to its multiple uses, which can be grouped into two groups:

Use for socio-economic development:

  • It is a universal medicine used since the 1st century AD: bitumen is prescribed against leprosy, cataracts, gout… It was used in Mesopotamia to cure dermatological ailments and also by the Egyptians and even in the thirteenth century in France.

  • It is the most widely used source of energy for industrial development: In the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States, oil was the driving force behind the development of industry and transport. Today, despite international policies to develop cleaner energy sources, including renewable energy, as well as strategies to limit or even eliminate the exploitation of fossil fuels, hydrocarbons remain the most widely used primary source of energy in the world.

Weapon of war and source of environmental pollution

  • Oil is also a weapon of war: it has been used in the Persian wars between Greece and Persia since the fifth century, as well as in the world wars where energy played a strategic role. For example, the control of Kuwait’s oil reserves by the US was the main cause of the Gulf War (1990-1991). The same is true of the Biafran war in Nigeria (May 1967-January 1970) maintained by France, and more recently in 2011, it was the real motives of the destabilization of Libya by the Western powers that are in particular France animated by the desire to control Libyan oil and to increase its influence in North Africa with the support of other NATO countries particularly the USA.

  • From an environmental point of view, the extraction of hydrocarbons and the use of petroleum products resulting from their transformation are at the origin of climate change because they emit greenhouse gases, which are responsible for global warming which causes severe weather and climate conditions, namely: the melting of glaciers, the rise in sea level, floods, drought etc.

In order to secure this valuable source of energy for industrial development, Westerners undertook oil exploration work in Africa during the 20th century. During the colonial period (before 1960) and especially in the early years of the post-colonial period, the first works carried out by foreign powers made it possible to make the geological mapping of Africa. This mapping revealed that the African continent has a significant potential in geo-extractive resources, particularly oil and natural gas.

The development of oil resources requires the existence and mastery of technology, skills and financial resources that are not available to third world countries, particularly those in Africa. thus. To do this, African countries negotiate agreements with foreign powers whose terms and implementation are poorly controlled or controlled. On the other hand, responsible, sustainable and transparent management of oil revenues by governments is decisive in boosting socio-economic development in states. As a result, for more than three decades of exploitation of oil and gas resources in Africa, the profits they derive are insignificant due on the one hand to the signing of unbalanced contracts that are not very profitable to States and on the other hand poorly managed. This state of affairs is illustrated by three observations:

  1. Most African countries that exploit oil resources live below poverty.

  2. Half of Africa’s population does not have access to energy, even though it exports a large part of its hydrocarbon production (40% of gas and 50% of oil) in the form of raw materials, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2017.

  3. the lack of appropriate infrastructure for the processing and development of the entire value chain of the oil industry.

The present work aims to lift a corner of the veil on the challenges of African States from the exploration to the exploitation of hydrocarbons, to analyze the tax regimes associated with oil legislation in certain West African countries and finally to highlight the fundamental levers on which States must act to maximize their profit and gradually reverse this unprofitable trend that characterizes the exploitation of oil resources in most countries. countries of West Africa.

This reflection also calls for the responsibility of African States in the monitoring and technical and sovereign control of oil operations in order to optimize their profit margin and ensure compliance with safety and environmental standards accepted in the international oil industry or governed by national legislation.

We believe that we have, through this book, given an overview of the oil sector and the difficulties and challenges related to the exploitation of resources for the benefit of the populations of West Africa, and made our contribution to the development of a real oil industry in West Africa.

This book owes a lot to some people who supported me in this exercise and who gladly made their contributions and constructive comments.

I would like to express my great gratitude to Mr. Matt …., Doctor of Geological Engineering and Independent Consultant in Petroleum Geosciences who did me honor by agreeing to write the preface to this book.