🇺🇸✡️🗳 House Democrats are facing a wave of calls urging them to reject Hakeem Jeffries as speaker despite the party’s landslide election victory.

Some lawmakers report receiving more than 500 calls, while a petition opposing Jeffries has gathered nearly 900,000 signatures.

One Democrat said, “It's our No. 1 issue, and it's not close,” while another reported that “lots of people are saying make Jamie Raskin speaker.”

Progressive activists oppose Jeffries over his pro-Israel ties and perceived lack of resistance to Trump.

However, Jeffries remains the overwhelming favorite, with one senior progressive putting the chances of his defeat at “0.0%.”

Source: Axios

🔗 Clash Report

🛢🌍 Gulf of Guinea oil regains strategic appeal as global energy shocks mount – Carnegie

The Gulf of Guinea is regaining strategic importance as an alternative source of oil and gas for Western markets, with geopolitical turmoil, offshore discoveries and regulatory reforms reviving investor interest in West Africa, according to an analysis published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“West African energy production is suddenly strategic again,” Judd Devermont, a Carnegie nonresident scholar, and Gabrielle Posner of Fraym wrote in a November 5 analysis. They urged renewed US engagement with African producers amid disruptions linked to the US-Israel war with Iran and threats to Middle Eastern shipping routes.

The researchers recalled that the US National Intelligence Council projected in 2000 that West Africa could supply 25% of North American oil imports by 2015. Instead, West African crude and petroleum products accounted for less than 3% of US imports that year, as American shale production expanded and African investment faced regulatory and security obstacles.

The latest disruptions have revived the argument for diversifying energy supplies. International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol has described the war as “the greatest energy security threat in history”. Carnegie estimates that the Gulf of Guinea, defined broadly to encompass much of Africa’s Atlantic coast, holds 4.5% of global oil reserves and 2.7% of gas reserves. Its location offers access to European and American markets without requiring shipments to transit Middle Eastern maritime chokepoints.

Much of the region’s crude is light and sweet, making it attractive to refiners, the researchers noted. Advances in seismic imaging and deepwater drilling have also opened previously difficult exploration areas, while licensing rounds are attracting interest in Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other coastal states.

Devermont and Posner argued that the investment environment had improved since Washington last identified the region as a strategic energy frontier. Regulatory reforms and maritime security initiatives had contributed to what they described as “a more welcoming, and potentially more durable, operating environment”.

Nigeria’s 2021 Petroleum Industry Act established a new regulatory framework and commercialised the state oil company, while subsequent presidential directives introduced incentives for offshore investment. Shell took the final investment decision on the Bonga North deepwater development in December 2024. The project, which press reports valued at about $5bn, is expected to recover more than 300mn barrels of oil equivalent and reach peak output of 110,000 barrels per day (bpd).

ExxonMobil and its partners committed $1bn in July 2026 to the Usan offshore infill drilling project, which is expected to add up to 40,000 bpd of production. Jagir Baxi, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian affiliates, announced the investment at NOG Energy Week in Abuja on July 8, saying work on the block would begin the following month. The campaign will be Esso’s first drilling in Nigeria since 2016.

The offshore investment drive contrasts with international majors’ withdrawal from mature onshore and shallow-water assets. Shell completed the sale of its Nigerian onshore and shallow-water subsidiary to the Renaissance consortium in March 2025, while Seplat Energy acquired ExxonMobil’s shallow-water operations in December 2024. Nigerian companies now account for more than half of national oil production, while international majors increasingly concentrate investment in deepwater projects and gas.

Angola has pursued comparable reforms, transferring petroleum-sector regulatory responsibilities from state-owned Sonangol to the newly created National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) in 2019 and introducing more predictable licensing rounds. Chevron announced an offshore oil and gas condensate discovery in Block 0 in August 2026 that remains subject to development assessment.

Mauritania has strengthened its investment framework following the 2015 discovery of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas field, shared with Senegal. Elsewhere along Africa’s Atlantic coast, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and, farther south, Namibia have attracted exploration interest through major offshore discoveries, although projects remain at different development stages.

Maritime security cooperation has expanded alongside these investments. Six countries — Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone — launched a Combined Maritime Task Force in June 2026 to coordinate responses to piracy and other maritime threats.

Competition from China presents another challenge for US investors. Chinese companies have expanded their involvement in African energy financing, infrastructure and engineering, particularly in Angola and Nigeria. Meanwhile, tightening emissions standards and uncertainty over long-term oil demand are increasing the commercial risks associated with new hydrocarbon developments.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/gulf-of-guinea-oil-regains-strategic-appeal-as-global-energy-shocks-mount-carnegie-482623/