One of Nigeria’s problems with its oil wealth is that more than 250 villagers were burned to death in the blink of an eye on July 10, 2000, as they gathered to fill their bottles from an oil pipeline in the south of the country that oil pirates had drilled holes in at night to steal the black gold. A motorbike passed by and a spark from it caused the pipeline to explode, causing this large number of casualties.
This tragic incident was not unique. In 1998, more than 1,000 people were killed in a similar incident in the Niger Delta town of Jessie, and later in 2003, an oil pipeline explosion in southeastern Nigeria killed more than 105 villagers in the same way. This phenomenon is not the whole problem, and it is, as they say, the tip of the iceberg.
Nigeria’s story with oil:
Oil in Nigeria, the East African country with the world’s sixth most populous nation with over 229 million people, was discovered as early as 1901, but actual exploitation began in 1956.
Since 1960, black gold has become the backbone of the economy of this African country, which covers an area of 923,769 square kilometers. Nearly 73 percent of them live below the poverty line, meaning that their income does not exceed two dollars a day, despite the large oil reserves of regarding 32 billion barrels, which is equivalent to 2.38 of the world’s reserves.
Desperate for legal means of earning a living, many citizens of this country have turned into “oil pirates”, and in this situation Nigeria has become the largest importer of oil on the continent, because it lacks fuel and meets local requirements by importing petroleum products.
The authorities of this country are using all means to combat the thriving phenomenon of oil piracy, with the help of the army, but the phenomenon of oil theft has spread in this country for decades, causing sabotage of oil pipelines. What exacerbates this intractable problem is that the proceeds from the sale of crude oil and gas constitute 70 percent of Nigeria’s budget revenues, and 95 percent of foreign exchange sources.
Oil theft in Nigeria at all levels and at all stages of production and refining has become a national disaster in this country. Official data indicates that Nigeria loses regarding 25 percent of its crude oil production due to theft.
The widespread oil theft phenomenon in Nigeria has not yet been addressed by the authorities. The Nigerian army announced late last month that it had recovered large quantities of stolen crude oil and refined products in the second quarter of this year, but more is being lost than is being recovered.
Nigeria lost 400,000 barrels of oil per day to theft in 2023, according to the country’s national security advisor, while a former oil minister stated that his country lost at least 700,000 barrels of oil per day to oil pirates and thieves in 2022. These rates are far higher than similar cases in some countries around the world. Nigeria is thus suffering from a “special situation” in which its oil production continues to decline due to neglect and sabotage, oil theft is steadily increasing, and pirates are even setting up parallel illegal refineries to refine and sell oil, leaving more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s population to get used to living on $2 a day.
Source: RT
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2024-07-11 06:55:37
