I am not arguing against the exploitation of petroleum resources wherever they are found in East Africa. To do so would not only be unwise, especially given the collectively extent to which we are all intractably enmeshed in the fossil fuel economy, but it would also be selfish because if the proceeds from oil exploitation were used wisely, millions of African lives would be improved. If, however, an uncontainable torrent of raw petrol(eum) gushing from the ocean floor were to be unleashed into the Western Indian Ocean basin, one thing that might happen is that we would get the kind of media coverage that Mexico and Cuba have received. Maybe they have not been affected, or maybe they have been… we can’t be sure. Furthermore, as we do not know of the contracts signed with the global corporations running these dynamic oil rigs, we cannot be sure of the extent to which they would be held liable for an oil spill’s negative environmental effects and loss of livelihood .