Mauritanian elections promise little upstream change

The expected winner of the presidential poll is unlikely to rock the boat for players in the country’s fast-expanding offshore sector

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 $1bn Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin (GTA) gas project and there is a marked pick up in exploration interest among other foreign oil companies. Ghazouani, who comes from an important religious and trading family in Assa