Rich Links: No Gas in Ghana, No Phosphate in Nambia, But More Oil in Libya

Some worthwhile reading from around the web:

Namibia bans phosphate mining

The Namibian government has declared a moratorium on phosphate mining in coastal waters. This is a reaction to ongoing protests from the fishing industry. The government and mining companies had plans to start exploiting the underwater reserves of phosphate, but mining phosphate at sea has never been done before. Fishermen and their employers -- fish is one of Namibia's most important exports -- are afraid of possible negative environmental consequences of the mining endeavour. Mining Review

No gas for Ghana

The gas pipeline delivering natural liquified gas from the Jubilee oil field to several gas power stations in Ghana won't be ready until 2014. The pipeline was due to go online at the beginning of this year, but the sinking of a ship with supplies and financing problems delayed are delaying completion. Ghana experiences severe power outages since a shipping accident made gas supply from Nigeria unreliable and solving the energy crisis has been a main campaign issue in the recent elections. AllAfrica/The Cronicle

Oil flows again in Libya

About thirty per cent of Libya's oil production capacity has come back online, after militias opened the valves on an important pipeline in the west of the country. Several militias and regional groups are using oil flows to put the Libyan government under pressure in negotiations over jobs, payment and decentralisation of political power. Libyan oil is mostly exported to southern Europe and the row has led to rising prices on world markets. New York Times