Out in the Atlantic, an area of ocean is causing ripples of excitement among some of the world's biggest oil companies.
From Nigeria, through Congo (Brazzaville) and down to Angola, billions of dollars have been invested over the past decade to exploit Africa's vast deep water oil reserves.
But while technological obstacles have largely been overcome, political difficulties have delayed development.
Nigeria has been in dispute with Cameroon since the 1970s over border demarcation in an area of the Gulf of Guinea reportedly rich in oil.
A separate dispute between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea took years of delicate and costly negotiations to resolve.
Such examples make all the more remarkable the agreement by Nigeria, one of Africa's biggest countries, and S?o Tom e Principe, one of its smallest, to set aside sovereignty issues and jointly exploit reserves in and around their undemarcated maritime boundary.
In 2001, the two states agreed to establish a Joint Development Zone (JDZ) covering 28,000 sq km - slightly smaller than Belgium - in some of the most prospective acreage yet to be explored in the region.
The proceeds from the zone are to be split 60 (Nigeria): 40 (S?o Tom), with the treaty to remain in force for 45 years, subject to review after 30 years.
An authority to manage the zone was set up last year, and a licensing round for nine blocks opened in April.
Tajudeen Umar, chairman of the Joint Development Authority (JDA) that manages the zone, hopes to raise a minimum signature bonus - the fee paid by companies to secure a concession - of $30m for each bloc. "We are adjacent to world class discoveries in Nigeria, so interest has been good. We have had inquiries from more than 30 companies, including most of the big names."
JDZ officials say seismic data indicate potential reserves of 6bn barrels. They hope to see production reach 250,000 barrels/day (b/d) within five years and to continue to increase thereafter.
Such a prospect would represent an economic revolution for S?o Tom e Principe, one of Africa's poorest countries.
But for Nigeria, which already produces 2m b/d, it represents a diplomatic and political triumph as much as an economic windfall - and the opportunity to challenge the suspicion and negative perceptions it generates as the region's biggest economy and largest military power.
"Places as far away as Surinam and Guyana have asked us to make presentations to find out how we have achieved this in such a short time. But there is no secret. It needed political will from both sides and a lot of hard work," says Mr Umar.
Flavio Pires dos Santos, one of Sao Tome's two directors in the four-man executive of the JDA, believes the framework is a genuine partnership.
"Nigeria has been exploiting oil for 40 years. We have a lot to learn technically. There have been problems with the interpretation and tempo of some issues, but now the fine tuning is done," he says.
The agreement between Nigeria and S?o Tom is a first for Africa, officials say, and one of only half a dozen in the world.
There have been few of the tensions associated with efforts to resolve border conflicts elsewhere in the Gulf of Guinea region, and little of the legal and other expenses such disputes have generated.
But there have been problems - and delays. The current licensing round was originally scheduled for last year. It was held up because of anxiety in S?o Tom over the transparency of proposed agreements between the JDA and companies that had earlier secured rights to the disputed territory.
The wrangling raised concerns over the potential for difficulties of having to deal with two governments in such a novel arrangement.
Officials insist, however, that with the legal framework now in place in both countries, they are less vulnerable to interference than most state oil companies in Africa. "Effectively, the two governments cancel each other out," says one.
But the delay has been costly, as Mr Umar acknowledges, and - in an area that has yet to produce any oil or gas - might have had a more serious impact but for the zone's potential assets.
"It was a setback, but we have to live with it," he says. "Confidence took a serious knock. It's a reflection of the value of the acreage that we can still attract interest."
By Anthony Goldman
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