Angola's national oil company has hired the Washington D.C. lobby firm Patton Boggs to improve ties with the U.S. government. "Corruption within Angola's $6 billion energy sector is a key irritant between the two countries," O'Dwyer's PR reports. "The U.S. estimates government officials and their cronies skim about $1 billion from Angola's yearly energy revenues." The one-year contract is worth $2.2 millon and will be led by the well connected Tommy Boggs. Last spring, a cease-fire ended the country's 27-year civil war. "The Government, however, recently sent troops to counter a separatist movement that has arisen in Angola's Cabinda province, which accounts for 60 percent of the country's oil wealth. Angola energy exports to the U.S. equal that of Kuwait," O'Dwyer's writes.