African oil producers like Angola are hoping to attract even more foreign investment in 2009, while foreign oil companies operating in Nigeria continue to experience the ill effects of violence at the hands of armed militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Once firmly atop the list of Africa's top oil producers, Nigeria slipped behind Angola -- albeit temporarily -- during the course of 2008, while other African countries received even more attention from eager foreign investors like China.

The Angolan government has called for a more equitable distribution of the country's oil wealth to fight poverty and for other social spending following its recent self-proclaimed victory over a separatist group in the oil-rich province of Cabinda.

Angola's army is claiming victory over a separatist rebel group in the petroleum-rich province of Cabinda, where increased unrest has threatened oil output in recent months.

Talks resumed between Chevron and Nigerian oil workers in hopes of averting a strike that would further cripple oil production in Africa's largest oil-producing country.

For the first time ever, Angolan oil output exceeded that of Nigeria, knocking the West African country out of the continent's top spot for production, according to OPEC.

Like the militant movement in neighboring Nigeria, Chad's armed rebels are also upset with how the country handles revenue from its oil industry, according to experts.