Oil, risk, and regional politics in East Africa

Resource nationalism, political disputes between national and local authorities over revenue sharing, and insecurity, are common country level political risks in Africa's oil and gas industries. But the boom decade gave new significance to regional risk. High international oil prices between 2004 and 2014 incentivized exploration and development in frontier countries and led to new oil and gas discoveries across the continent. In East Africa, regional cooperation and cross-border pipeline infrastructure is necessary to monetize landlocked resources far from large consumer markets. This article examines how oil and politics produce regional risk to influence the competitive positions of international oil companies and development of oil industries in South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya. It shows how international oil companies harness market and political resources to manage and mitigate not only country level risks, but also to shape regional affairs to advance their competitive positions.