Foreign and local campaigners are pressing the government and Sonangol for a clearer accounting of how much they earn from the oil industry, and where the money goes. The country is hardly unique in transparency terms on the continent and beyond. It is attracting particular attention, however, given how quickly oil production is ramping up... On the issue of signing bonuses, a positive precedent was set in May 2004, when ChevronTexaco secured the 20-year extension of its concession on Cabinda’s prolific offshore Block Zero... However, Angola’s talks on a new financing agreement with the IMF – the main imprimatur of financial respectability – have been fitful and protracted. The government and Sonangol have yet to fulfil most of the recommendations of a 2004 study, aimed at identifying gaps in governance. So even a forensic specialist would struggle, for example, to trace exactly where Chevron’s $210m ended up...foreign oil companies are also wary of sticking their necks out... Sonangol famously accused BP of a breach of contract in 2001 after it made a full accounting of its business in Angola. [also refers to Total]