Bayelsa, Nigeria - Goodluck
Jonathan, the Nigerian president, has called the stealing of the
country's oil an "embarrassment" to his nation. To many people in
oil-producing regions, however, the crude that is siphoned from fuel
company pipelines is the one thing they depend on.
A recent Al Jazeera report has found that fishing and farming, the two main economic activities in the oil-rich Niger Delta, are now all but abandoned. Frequent oil spills have depleted fish species in rivers and streams while millions of hectares of farmland lie wasted by oil pollution and contamination.
In some parts of the Delta, stealing oil from the pipelines has become a free-for-all. Sometimes entire villages are involved.
The oil thieves attack the underground pipelines with saws and hammers and then siphon off the oil in boats or barges.
The government and oil companies say they are losing more than $1bn a month to the crime, and that loss has reportedly risen sharply under Jonathan's administration.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister, has said the trade in stolen oil has led to a fall in official sales of about 400,000 barrels a day - a 17 per cent drop - in April alone. With average April prices of $121 per barrel, this results in a loss of $1.4bn.
This is a higher estimate than that given by Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary, which put loss from theft at between 150,000 and 180,000 barrels a day.
Read More.......................
A recent Al Jazeera report has found that fishing and farming, the two main economic activities in the oil-rich Niger Delta, are now all but abandoned. Frequent oil spills have depleted fish species in rivers and streams while millions of hectares of farmland lie wasted by oil pollution and contamination.
In some parts of the Delta, stealing oil from the pipelines has become a free-for-all. Sometimes entire villages are involved.
| Nigeria leaks billions from rampant oil theft |
The government and oil companies say they are losing more than $1bn a month to the crime, and that loss has reportedly risen sharply under Jonathan's administration.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister, has said the trade in stolen oil has led to a fall in official sales of about 400,000 barrels a day - a 17 per cent drop - in April alone. With average April prices of $121 per barrel, this results in a loss of $1.4bn.
This is a higher estimate than that given by Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary, which put loss from theft at between 150,000 and 180,000 barrels a day.
Read More.......................
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