Erik Prince and Bubblin Crude: “Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea”
If you have been following the news recently you would have seen a spate of articles regarding Erik Prince’s latest business venture, Frontier Resources Group.
At this point those who follow PMSC issues should all know who Erik Prince is. But for those who have dropped in from Mars suffice it to say that he is cofounder and former CEO of the well-known private security firm formerly known as Blackwater, then Xe Services, and now Academi.
Prince recently became chairman of FRG, a Hong Kong-listed company of which China’s state-backed investment fund Citic owns 15 per cent. According to the Oman Observer, Prince himself has share options in the firm that would convert to a 9 per cent stake.
Consider this Phase 2 in Mr. Prince’s evolution and public image rebranding in his post-Blackwater era.
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FRG is supposed to provide providing logistics for oil and mining companies in various parts of Africa. It is no secret that the world’s one and only Hidden Dragon and Crouching Lion, also known as China, is increasingly looking to Africa to meet its increasing demands for natural resources, especially hydrocarbons.
While all of this is public knowledge the scale of what is about to happen is not generally appreciated outside the petroleum industry. But thanks to a recent study by the U.S. Army War College the economic bonanza that will be reaped in the future can be fully understood.
The study “Africa’s Booming Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production: National Security Implications for the United States and China” by David E. Brown was published last December. Consider the following facts:
