Oil dependent countries face instability if they don’t diversify

Several oil dependent countries face economic and political instability because they are failing to diversify amidst the ‘energy transition’, that’s among the findings of a new industry report.

Algeria, Iraq, Nigeria, Chad, Kazakhstan, Angola, Gabon, Congo, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea were all named in the list of ‘at risk’ companies identified in the report by economic research group Verisk Maplecroft.

Time is running out for these countries and their narrow economies as the world trends away from hydrocarbons.

Most oil exporting countries failed to invest in alternative industries in 2014, the last time that crude prices crashed prior to the Covid pandemic.

The energy transition will be a ‘threat multiplier’ for those countries that don’t have the capacity to change their economies.

“Standing still won’t be an option for these markets,” the consultancy said in the report.

“Political and public pressure to tackle climate change are the main drivers behind energy transition, as we have seen in the climate protest movement and electoral success of green policies in developed economies.”