Mauritanian elections promise little upstream change

摘要

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 $lbn Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin(GTA)gas project and there is a marked pick up in exploration interest among other foreign oil companies.