Mauritanian elections promise little upstream change
The expected winner of the presidential poll is unlikely to rock the boat for players in the country’s fast-expanding offshore sector
Mauritanians go to the polls on 22 June to elect a new head of state—with the regime candidate, defence minister Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani, the overwhelming favourite to clinch victory. As a longstanding close confidant of the outgoing president, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, he is expected to maintain the principle lines of current government policy. That should ensure a continued stable framework for the upstream hydrocarbons sector at a time when BP is developing the $1bn Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin (GTA) gas project and there is a marked pick up in exploration interest among other foreign oil companies. Ghazouani, who comes from an important religious and trading family in Assa
Also in this section
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
8 January 2026
The region’s access to versatile feedstock, combined with policy support, is setting it up to meet growing demand both at home and abroad
7 January 2026
No longer can the energy source be considered a sidekick to oil in the Middle East and neither should it step aside for less convincing alternatives
