Fortune and fantasy on Africa's oil frontier
Takoradi, Ghana. Photo by Christiane Badgley
If you’re a reporter, student or activist looking for sources of information on the oil industry or wondering how you can work with data available from the World Bank and other organizations, there’s a new handbook out that you will certainly appreciate. It’s called, Exploring Oil Data, A Reporter’s Handbook, and you can download it from the Open Oil website. As someone who spends a lot of time sifting through (and trying to get my head around) data and searching dozens of websites for information that no oil companies willingly share, I was excited to find so many sources gathered together in one location. I was also thrilled to see my blog here at Pipe(line) Dreams listed as one of the “Top Ten Blogs”.
If you’re not familiar with OpenOil, definitely take some time to check out the organization. Founded by writer and social entrepreneur, Johnny West, OpenOil promotes transparency of the oil industry on all levels. What makes OpenOil’s work most interesting, however, is its push to move beyond transparency in seeking creative solutions that can lead to better outcomes for the people living in oil-producing nations. You can read more about the team’s vision and values here: About us – values.
Christiane Badgley has been producing and editing documentary films for the past twenty years, with much of her work focused on the U.S. criminal justice system and post-colonial African politics and history.
