Desiderio Costa
Encyclopedia
Desiderio da Graça Verissimo e Costa (born April 4, 1934) is an Angola
n politician who was Minister of Petroleum
from 2002 to 2008.
As Minister of Petroleum, Costa visited the China
, Cuba
, Venezuela
, the United States
and others, due to his country's expanding petroleum industry
. He was the 2005-2006 chairman of the African Petroleum Producers Association
(APPA). He oversaw the emerging importance of Angolan oil in the global market. Costa also oversaw Angola's joining of OPEC
by January 2007, as it is now the 2nd leading petroleum exporter in Sub-Saharan Africa
, with over 1.3 billion barrels drilled daily in 2005.
at the Montanuniversität Leoben
, a technical university in the Austria
n city of Leoben
concentrating on mining, metallurgy and materials. In 1980–81, he pursued further studies in Petroleum Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, USA.
Costa served as member of the Angolan National Commission for Restructuring the Petroleum Industry from 1976 to 1977, as General Deputy Director of Sonangol from 1977 to 1979, was National Director of Petroleum in the years from 1982 to 1984 and Vice Minister of Petroleum from 1984 to 2002. He was promoted to the position of Minister of Petroleum in a series of ministry-shake-ups in December 2002. He replaced Botelho de Vasconcelos, who was moved to the Ministry of Energy and Water. In the new cabinet formed on October 3, 2008, after the parliamentary elections of September 2008, he was replaced again by his predecessor. Desiderio Costa continues to work as consultant to the oil industry.
The 145th meeting of the OPEC
Conference on 11 September 2007 elected Costa as the head of the Angolan delegation to serve as Alternate President for the year 2008. With the government changes in October 2008, this office also went over to the new Angolan minister for petroleum.
. His father, Fernando Pascoal da Costa, a clerk in a railway station, was classified by the Portuguese colonial regime as "assimilado" (assimilated), i.e. with more rights as a regular black African, but still a lower status than a "real", i.e. "White" Portuguese. The Salazar regime
in Portugal
regarded the colonies as oversea provinces, but denied even those limited rights available under the Salazar dictatorship to the majority of the population of the colonies.
Costa's father was one of the early members of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA). He was one of the defendants in the "Process of the fifty", i.e. three criminal proceedings in 1960 for "high treason", i.e. favoring the independence of Angola from colonial rule
. He was then imprisoned for many years on the Cabo Verde islands, also under Portuguese colonial rule at the time.
Desiderio Costa, who went to school in Portugal during the process of his father, sought refuge in West Germany
from prosecution by the PIDE
, secret police of the Salazar regime. In Germany, he found his first refuge in a physician's family in Lüdenscheid
, where he also worked in a factory and started to learn German. He prepared to study medicine, then served for several years as president of the association of students from the Portuguese colonies with seat in Morocco, before he decided to turn to the study of petroleum engineering, so that at least one Angolan patriot knowledgeable in petroleum engineering would be available after achieving independence.
Desiderio Costa is married and has five children.
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
n politician who was Minister of Petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
from 2002 to 2008.
As Minister of Petroleum, Costa visited the China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and others, due to his country's expanding petroleum industry
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
. He was the 2005-2006 chairman of the African Petroleum Producers Association
African Petroleum Producers Association
thumb|Map of states belonging to the APPA as of June 2009.African Petroleum Producers Association, APPA is an organisation of African countries producing petroleum. It was founded in 1986...
(APPA). He oversaw the emerging importance of Angolan oil in the global market. Costa also oversaw Angola's joining of OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
by January 2007, as it is now the 2nd leading petroleum exporter in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
, with over 1.3 billion barrels drilled daily in 2005.
Professional career
Costa graduated in 1975, shortly before Angola's independence, in petroleum engineeringPetroleum engineering
Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Subsurface activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, which are the activities of...
at the Montanuniversität Leoben
University of Leoben
The University of Leoben, in the town of Leoben, Austria, is the country's university for mining, metallurgy, and materials.It was founded on 4 November 1840, as the Steiermärkisch-Ständische Montanlehranstalt in Styria, Austria's mining region. In 1848 Peter Tunner relocated the university to the...
, a technical university in the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n city of Leoben
Leoben
Leoben is a Styrian city in central Austria, located by the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
concentrating on mining, metallurgy and materials. In 1980–81, he pursued further studies in Petroleum Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, USA.
Costa served as member of the Angolan National Commission for Restructuring the Petroleum Industry from 1976 to 1977, as General Deputy Director of Sonangol from 1977 to 1979, was National Director of Petroleum in the years from 1982 to 1984 and Vice Minister of Petroleum from 1984 to 2002. He was promoted to the position of Minister of Petroleum in a series of ministry-shake-ups in December 2002. He replaced Botelho de Vasconcelos, who was moved to the Ministry of Energy and Water. In the new cabinet formed on October 3, 2008, after the parliamentary elections of September 2008, he was replaced again by his predecessor. Desiderio Costa continues to work as consultant to the oil industry.
The 145th meeting of the OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
Conference on 11 September 2007 elected Costa as the head of the Angolan delegation to serve as Alternate President for the year 2008. With the government changes in October 2008, this office also went over to the new Angolan minister for petroleum.
Personal
Costa was born in LuandaLuanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
. His father, Fernando Pascoal da Costa, a clerk in a railway station, was classified by the Portuguese colonial regime as "assimilado" (assimilated), i.e. with more rights as a regular black African, but still a lower status than a "real", i.e. "White" Portuguese. The Salazar regime
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
regarded the colonies as oversea provinces, but denied even those limited rights available under the Salazar dictatorship to the majority of the population of the colonies.
Costa's father was one of the early members of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...
(MPLA). He was one of the defendants in the "Process of the fifty", i.e. three criminal proceedings in 1960 for "high treason", i.e. favoring the independence of Angola from colonial rule
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
. He was then imprisoned for many years on the Cabo Verde islands, also under Portuguese colonial rule at the time.
Desiderio Costa, who went to school in Portugal during the process of his father, sought refuge in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
from prosecution by the PIDE
PIDE
In 1969, Marcello Caetano changed the name PIDE to DGS . The death of Salazar and the subsequent ascension of Caetano brought some attempts at democratization, in order to avoid popular insurgency against censorship, the ongoing colonial war and the general restriction of civil rights...
, secret police of the Salazar regime. In Germany, he found his first refuge in a physician's family in Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Lüdenscheid is seat of the administration of the Märkischer Kreis district...
, where he also worked in a factory and started to learn German. He prepared to study medicine, then served for several years as president of the association of students from the Portuguese colonies with seat in Morocco, before he decided to turn to the study of petroleum engineering, so that at least one Angolan patriot knowledgeable in petroleum engineering would be available after achieving independence.
Desiderio Costa is married and has five children.