Mobil Joins Other U.S. Oil Firms in Angola - Downplaying Politics

Just a month after South African tanks rolled into Angola with the acquiescence of the U.S. government, another major U.S. corporation took out a stake in the Angolan economy (see MM, Aug. '81). In early September, Mobil Oil landed a 25 percent share in an oil concession off the northern Angolan coast. The French state-owned oil company, Elf Aquitaine, controls 50 percent of the concession, with Agip of Italy and two Yugoslavian companies splitting the remaining 25 percent share.

For Mobil, this was the first interest it has acquired in Angola's oil resources; the company has been exploring there only since May.

Mobil denied that the discovery would make the corporation more likely to pressure the Reagan administration to soften its stance against the Marxist government. "Mobile would not presume to attempt to influence Reagan's foreign policy in this area," said Jim Amana, manager of press relations at Mobil's Washington office, Gulf Oil, with a much greater investment in the Angolan economy, has lobbied hard for a less-interventionist U.S. policy toward Angola.

- Cynthia Abramson