No let up in the chaos of Nigeria. Rebels from the Niger Delta blew up a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline yesterday, forcing the firm to cut production, helping keep world oil prices near record highs as a consequence. It was carried out while Shell was trying to repair damage caused by a series of similar … Read More
violence
Carter to Mediate in Nigeria?
The Niger Delta Rebel group MEND has promised to suspend attacks on US and European oil facilities in Nigeria if former American President Jimmy Carter mediates peace talks. “President Carter represents transparency, impartiality, humility and integrity; four key ingredients critical in the mediator recipe towards ensuring a genuine and enduring peace process for the region,” … Read More
Nigeria No Longer Top Africa Exporter?
Nigeria, which has been forced to shut in more than half of its oil output following rebel attacks and a workers’ strike, could lose its position as Africa’s top oil exporter to Angola. The cumulative oil production outage for Africa’s most populous nation now amounts to more than 1.3 million barrels per day from its … Read More
Guns for Oil?
A group of US senators is pressing President Bush to halt billions of dollars in sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf oil producers unless they agree to pump more oil. The senators said if Saudi Arabia does not increase production, they would seek a resolution that would block the arms deals. … Read More
MEND Threatens War
Many years ago, before he died in a plane crash, the Nigerian academic Claude Ake warned about the consequences of the militarisation of commerce. Over a decade later, the spiral of violence concerning oil continues. Ake’s painful warning has come true. As America conducts more naval maneuvers in the Gulf of Guinea, the Movement for … Read More
Al Qaeda Attacks Oil Interests in Yemen
Things are certainly hotting up for foreign oil companies in Yemen. A blast shook an area near the headquarters of Canadian oil company Nexen in the capital Sanaa yesterday. The blast followed Sunday’s mortar attack by an Al Qaeda terrorist organization on a residential complex in Yemen that houses executives and the headquarters of Safer … Read More
Basra Fighting Could Disrupt Oil Supplies
The fighting in Basra could soon affect Iraq’s oil supplies. Oil production and exports from Iraq’s southern oilfields could be disrupted in three days if workers cannot reach their offices due to fighting in Basra. “If the military operations continue for three more days, the oil workers will not be able to continue their work … Read More
Nigerian Rebel Leader Accused
Nigerian police have accused a detained rebel leader from the oil-producing Niger Delta of killings, arms dealing, oil smuggling and other crimes, raising the prospect of a trial that could destabilise the area. Henry Okah was extradited from Angola to Nigeria a week ago and uncertainty over his fate has already increased tensions in Delta. … Read More
Niger Delta: Eleven Dead in Gun Battle
And so it goes on. Three soldiers and eight militants were killed over the weekend in a gun battle at an oil pipeline hub operated by Shell in Nigeria’s southern state of Bayelsa. Shell said the Tora manifold, which sends oil to the Bonny export terminal, was not damaged in the attack oil production in … Read More
Nigerian Rebels Ask Clooney for Help
George Clooney may be one of the most expensive actors on the planet, who has recently tackled some difficult subjects in his films, but is he up for this one? The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), from the Niger Delta has asked Clooney to visit the impoverished region, under his mandate … Read More