Nigeria's Political Mess Will Keep Oil Prices Higher Than Ever

The state of political affairs in Africa’s most populated country has never been stable from the moment when Nigeria obtained sovereignty and became independent from Great Britain. The country was suffering from inter-tribal wars and conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

The military dictatorship that was set up in the country after the end of the British colonial ruling also failed to establish law and order in a large country. The oil business could only add more instability to the list of the above-mentioned problems.

Nigeria’s oil deposits are located in the delta of Niger, the home to a large and bellicose tribe called Ijaw. The tribe’s leaders claim their rights to own quite a big part of the oil profits. The military authorities of the country stand firmly against such an intention of the tribe: the illegal extraction and sales of fuel has become a lucrative business for them.

The governmental troops of Nigeria are waging war against the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The army and the police use brutal measures in their struggle when they burn Ijaw’s whole villages to the ground for intimidation. The company Royal Dutch Shell, which owns most of the local oil business, suffers the largest losses because of the war.

Rebels attack oil pipelines, tankers and take company’s employees hostage. The shipments of Nigerian oil have dropped by 20 percent since the beginning of the year because of the acts of sabotage. It is worthy of note that Nigeria is included in the top ten list of the world's largest oil suppliers.

Read the full story...

Due to the corruption of the government and oil industry of Nigeria, oil prices
will continue to rise for consumers. Though Nigeria is one of the top ten
countries in regard to total oil supply, beaurocratic corruption has prevented
Nigerian citizens and international oil consumers from profiting from the
abundance of oil.