2008
The price of crude oil declined from $147.27 per barrel on 11 July 2008 to a 70% price drop in December. Many OPEC members advocated cutting the supply of oil by 1.5 to 2 million barrels to artificially inflate the price of petroleum to roughly $75 per barrel. Richard Segal, an analyst for the United Bank of Africa, posited that the global financial crisis made borrowing from the Chinese government cheaper than taking loans from the West. President dos Santos visited China shortly after the crisis erupted, meeting with President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, and Wu Bangguo, the President of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He asked his Chinese counterparts for $1 billion in investment in Angola's infrastructure, specifically in housing and water transportation. The Chinese government has invested $5–7 billion in Angola in return for Angola's crude oil. Nonetheless, Ricardo Gazel, a senior economist for the World Bank, predicted that Angola's initial budget for 2009, based on oil exports at $55 per barrel, would be revised with a much more modest outlook by as early as April 2009.
Despite the decline in the price of oil, Angola usurped Nigeria's place as the top producer of petroleum in sub-Saharan Africa in early 2008. Angola's oil exports were the primary contributor to the country's 25% growth rate, attracting illegal immigrants from West Africa. Angola LNG Limited awarded a $250 million contract to Acergy S.A., an oil and gas construction company, on 15 December to build an offshore pipeline, connecting five oil blocks with Angola LNG's plant in Soyo.
Petra Diamonds company ended its operations in Alto Cuilo amid a general downturn in demand for diamonds on 19 December. The company also announced that it is considering leaving Luangue, losing $62.3 million the company had previously invested.
The government held legislative elections on 5 September 2008, the first national election in sixteen years. Election observers reported serious electoral irregularities and restrictions on political freedom.
Read more about this topic: 2000s In Angola