For over 50 years now, the extraction of crude oil and natural gas from Nigeria's Niger Delta has meant wealth for a privileged few but has exacted heavy costs on residents and the environment. Nigeria is the world's 8th largest producer of crude oil, yet remains one of its poorest nations. An estimated 70 percent of its 150 million residents live below the poverty line.
The environment is paying a steep price as well. An estimated 500 million gallons of oil have spilled into the delta, the equivalent of roughly one Exxon Valdez disaster per year. A number of factors have contributed to these disasters like poor construction and maintenance, lax regulation, militant attacks, and petroleum thieves, not to mention government instability and abuse of power. According to cables released by WikiLeaks, Shell Oil claimed to have planted staff in all of Nigeria's main ministries, gaining access to key government decisions.
The environment is paying a steep price as well. An estimated 500 million gallons of oil have spilled into the delta, the equivalent of roughly one Exxon Valdez disaster per year. A number of factors have contributed to these disasters like poor construction and maintenance, lax regulation, militant attacks, and petroleum thieves, not to mention government instability and abuse of power. According to cables released by WikiLeaks, Shell Oil claimed to have planted staff in all of Nigeria's main ministries, gaining access to key government decisions.
You'll be shocked to find how oil is mined in Nigeria. The oil and gas industry is known for its high standard in safety for human and environment but it is not the case in Nigeria. Nigerian extract crude oil just like some backyard personal DIY project. Gathered here are some scenes from Nigeria's long, disastrous relationship with the crude oil industry.
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| A boy standing in a canoe holds a hose to siphon oil from a spillage site on a river in Bodo community in Ogoni region of the Niger Delta, on June 10, 2010. (Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye) |
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| Oil flows past a sunken boat in a creek near an illegal oil refinery in Ogoniland, outside Port Harcourt, in Nigeria's Delta region, on March 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) |
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