The government of Equatorial Guinea has collapsed. In the early hours of this morning, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo fled the capital Malabo as military units defected en masse. Sources on the ground confirm that a transitional council has seized control of key infrastructure, including the oil terminals that pump 200,000 barrels a day.
The collapse is total. British oil majors with exposure to the region are now scrambling to assess the impact on their North Sea operations. Documents obtained by this newsroom show that BP and Shell funneled at least $2.
3 billion into Equatorial Guinea's offshore fields over the past five years. The money came via shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg. Now those investments are in jeopardy.
But here is the scandal brewing in Westminster. The same firms have been lobbying the government to relax North Sea decommissioning rules. They claim the basin is uncompetitive.
But internal emails reveal a different motive. The firms want to divert capital from Britain to Africa. One senior executive wrote to a Treasury official last month: 'If we can get the tax breaks we need, we will commit to the North Sea for a decade.
But if we don't, our board is looking at West Africa.' The collapse in Equatorial Guinea changes everything. Now the board has no West Africa to run to.
So they will come crawling back to the North Sea. But at what price? The transitional council in Malabo has already announced a review of all oil contracts.
They say they will cancel any deal signed under corruption. And they have evidence. Hundreds of thousands of pages of leaked documents from the former president's inner circle detail kickbacks, bribes and money laundering.
British banks handled the transactions. HSBC alone processed over $800 million in suspicious payments. The Serious Fraud Office is yet to comment.
But sources inside the agency say they are preparing to interview senior executives. The North Sea is a sideshow. The real story is the systemic corruption that allowed a dictator to loot his country for decades.
And the British companies that helped him do it. Today Equatorial Guinea is free. But the fight for justice is just beginning.
This newsroom will continue to follow the money.
