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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Nigeria rattles oil markets |
| 2003-03-28 |
| Oil prices have jumped sharply, partly reversing the 30% falls seen since the beginning of March. US crude oil prices rose 66 cents to $28.63 while London's benchmark had gained 47 cents to $25.2835 a barrel. ... Oil prices have been given further impetus by social unrest in oil-producing regions of Nigeria, which has already removed more than 800,000 barrels per day - more than 1% of global demand - from the market. The deteriorating situation in Warri, the main city in Nigeria's Delta region, has forced international oil firms such as Shell, ChevronTexaco and TotalFinaElf to reduce output to a trickle. "Two factors are influencing the markets: the potential for Iraqi oil to remain unavailable for longer than expected and the loss of Nigerian oil exports," said analyst Adam Sieminski in a report for Deutsche Bank. Nigeria, which produces some 2.1 million barrels per day of oil, is the world's sixth-biggest exporter, and is especially crucial because of the high quality of its oil. Nigeria is one of the main exporters to the US, which is wary of relying too much on oil from its neighbours in the Americas. The current unrest concerns the Ijaw ethnic group, native to the Delta region, who allege maltreatment at the hands of the security forces. Nigerian armed forces are reportedly protecting oil facilities and other buildings, after Ijaw militants clashed with members of the Itsekiri tribe. The Ijaw feel they are under-represented in national politics, and claim that electoral boundaries have been drawn to favour the Itsekiri. Although oil firms have moved to boost production in other parts of Nigeria, there is little prospect of exports recovering quickly. And two of Nigeria's four refineries are already almost out of crude oil - something that threatens to exacerbate already chronic fuel shortages. Another problem to watch. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Mrs Abacha still wants you to accept 40 percent of her 30 millions? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-03-28 17:23:25 |
| #9 "Or are they too busy running internet scams? I got another letter today." I've got my junkmail filter fine-tuned so most of that's cut out. Now I get mostly offers to grow my doinker another three inches and to sell me Viagra. What I want to know is, who told? |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-03-28 16:01:54 |
| #8 Biafra. There's a name from the past. And it doesn't conjure up happy memories. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-28 12:44:17 |
| #7 There's another Islamic/Christian/amimist "civil war" in Nigeria, as the Islamic north tries to force its religion on the rest of the country. I wouldn't doubt some of the unrest can be traced directly back to Hussein and the Saudis. Civil unrest in Africa, mostly either prompted or encouraged from outside, has the potential of igniting the entire continent, to no one's benefit. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-03-28 11:05:56 |
| #6 Ojukwu, of Biafra War fame, is running for office in Nigeria, on a "Biafra idea" platform. Others favor a "South-South" solution. The common link is detachment from the Islamic social idiocy in the Northern sharia states. Southerners are asking why they should share oil wealth with Muslim parasites who subverted Nigeria's constitution in order to live under sharia perversity. |
| Posted by: Anonon 2003-03-28 10:59:42 |
| #5 Social unrest? Or are they too busy running internet scams? I got another letter today. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-28 09:57:34 |
| #4 If we can unload humanitarian supplies, how long can it be before we can load Iraqi oil? |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-28 09:22:09 |
| #3 Not sure who's inciting, but a spectacularly corrupt Nigerian govt has given them fertile ground to work with. Not sure if the oil cos have been merely tolerating or actively encouraging that - could be an element of sowing and reaping there. Not too ideal to have Nigeria, Venezuela and Iraq offline or unreliable at the same time... |
| Posted by: VAMark 2003-03-28 07:49:53 |
| #2 Something like this has been in the cards for awhile, and it will not be pretty when Nigeria goes the way of Zaire. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-03-28 07:03:11 |
| #1 Hmm.. I wonder who's been inciting that.. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-03-28 01:32:45 |