Algeria ramped up its Washington lobbying last year to help make its case regarding the disputed Western Sahara and attract US investment in its underperforming oil and gas industry.

But political upheaval back home has thrown those plans into turmoil.

The energy-rich North African country hired US law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle in June 2018 along with other consultancies to help write a new energy law aimed at boosting investor confidence. Two months later, public energy company Sonatrach hired Washington lobby shop International Policy Solutions for $25,000 per month to lobby on behalf of both Algeria and the firm itself.

International Policy Solutions has six agents on the account, including founder and president David Jory and ex- Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla., a former member of the House Natural Resources Committee. Public filings show its lobbyists met with officials from the Commerce Department and the US Geological Survey soon after the firm was hired. They also reached out to key lawmakers, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Energy and Commerce energy panel Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Ill.