There has been another spate of hostage taking in Nigeria. At least 16 foreign workers were kidnapped early today in two separate incidents in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta region. Eight Filipinos, three South Koreans and a Nigerian employee were abducted from Afam power station, about 20 miles northeast of Port Harcourt.
African Oil
Chinese Oil Workers Freed in Ethiopia
Seven Chinese oil workers and two Africans who were kidnapped last week during a rebel attack on a Chinese oil field near the Somali border have been released. The Ogaden National Liberation Front, a militant group fighting for control of eastern Ethiopia, claimed responsibility for the attack last week, which is run by a division … Read More
Nigeria’s New President Pledges To Tackle Oil Violence
Nigeria’s president-elect, Umaru Yar’Adua, intends to tackle violence in the Niger Delta by initiating dialogue with “militants” when he assumes office. Yar’Adua, who won the disputed election, said he would get to work immediately on solving the crisis in the Delta. “You can expect a clear plan to be developed for the solution of the … Read More
UNEP to Begin Cleaning Up the Niger Delta
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is preparing for a massive clean up operation of oil spills in the Niger Delta, including in Ogoni. UNEP’s Country Director, Turhan Saleh said the clean up work would be the most challenging task the organization has undertaken in recent years.
Massacre at Chinese Oilfield in Ethiopia
Africa and oil is often a deadly and violent mix and if the Chinese thought they would escape being targeted then they will have to think again. This time the turmoil is in the East of the continent in Ethiopia. Somali rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation front have killed seventy-four workers at a Chinese … Read More
Nigerian Election Condemned As a Farce
Nigeria’s presidential elections – that will impact the country’s oil industry – have been dismissed as so chaotic and flawed that they should be re-run. Election observers said most polling stations only had half the ballot papers they needed. Half the country had no ballot papers at all. “You cannot use the result from half … Read More
Now Somali Government Proposes PSAs
When American forces helped the fledging Somali government overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts earlier this year, some people argued that it was because of Al-Qaeda, others because of oil. For years, petroleum geologists have hoped that the oil-rich geology of Saudi Arabia and the Yemen that curves graciously under the sea of Aden and … Read More
Violence Escalates in Niger Delta
Seven people have been killed during security patrols in the Niger Delta, prompting fears of an escalation in the violence in the region. Five people, including two policemen, were killed in a shootout with criminal gangs on Wednesday in the Emohua district of the oil city of Port Harcourt, police said.
Call for UK Firms to Quit the Niger Delta
A leading union leader from Britain’s offshore industry has called on all British oil companies to pull out of the volatile Niger Delta region until safety can be guaranteed. The call by Graham Tran, a regional officer of Amicus, one of the North Sea’s major unions, came as the search went on for a missing … Read More
Angola Enters Big Time
The New York Times reports on the growing importance of Angola’s oil industry as it attends its first OPEC meeting. Angola may be corrupt and “one of the poorest lands on earth. But ask any energy executive these days and another picture emerges: a place of immense riches, solicitous of foreign investors and among the … Read More