Certainly must have made shore by now....
"Oil spill approaching Nigeria’s coast" December 23, 2011
LAGOS, Nigeria - An oil spill near the Nigerian coast is probably the worst to hit those waters in a decade, a government official said yesterday, as slicks from the Royal Dutch Shell PLC spill approached Nigeria’’s southern shoreline.
The slick from Shell’s Bonga field has affected 115 miles of ocean near Nigeria’s coast, according to Peter Idabor, of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency. Idabor said officials expect the slick to reach beaches by yesterday afternoon, probably affecting birds, fish, and other wildlife in the area.
Shell, the major oil producer in Nigeria, said Wednesday that the spill is thought to have occurred as workers tried to offload oil onto a waiting tanker. Shell published photos of the spill, showing a telltale rainbow sheen in the ocean, but the company believes that half of the leaked oil has evaporated.
(Blog editor simply shaking his head; yeah, it all disappeared just like in the Gulf)
The leak source has been plugged and specialists from Britain were to help with the cleanup, Idabor said.
Oh, well, who could doubt that?
Shell estimated that the Bonga spill might have been less than 40,000 barrels. That’s about the same amount of oil spilled offshore in 1998 at a Mobil field. The 1998 spill saw oil slicks extended for more than 100 miles to Lagos.
Environmentalists blame Shell and other firms for polluting the nation’s Niger Delta.
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Related: Nigeria Experiences Exxon Valdez Size Spill Every Year
But this last one is the worst in a decade?
Also see: Nigeria's Evaporating Oil Spill
Got soaked up again:
"3 kidnapped oil workers freed in Nigeria" December 03, 2011|Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria - Gunmen have freed three foreign workers, two from the United States, kidnapped from a ship supplying a Chevron Corp. offshore oil field near Nigeria’s coast, authorities said yesterday....
Foreign firms have pumped oil out of Nigeria’s Niger Delta for more than 50 years. Despite the billions flowing into the nation’s government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living in polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education, or work.
In 2006, militants started a wave of attacks targeting foreign oil companies, including bombing pipelines, kidnapping their workers, and fighting with security forces. That violence waned in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty program promising former fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits.
No militant group operating in the delta claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. It occurred after Exxon Mobil Corp. had seen other contract workers kidnapped in recent weeks. Analysts warn that the attacks may signify a fraying of the amnesty deal.
Meanwhile, attacks on crude oil tankers continue to rise around Nigeria, as pirates take over vessels to steal the crude oil or gasoline held in their holds....
Pffft!
Nigeria, an OPEC member nation producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a top supplier to the United States.
And oddly enough, that's where the "terrorists" are.
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And despite swimming in so much oil....
"Outcry in Nigeria as fuel prices double" January 03, 2012|Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria - Irate drivers in Africa’s most populous nation paid more than twice the usual price yesterday after the government quietly removed a long-cherished consumer subsidy that had kept gas prices low, prompting fears of strikes and unrest.
Gasoline powers Nigeria’s generators because the national electricity supply is sporadic at best, and fuel also keeps engines running in traffic that can snarl for hours. The government’s announcement, made over a long holiday weekend, drew outrage.
“This New Year ‘gift’ by the presidency is callous, insensitive, and is intended to cause anarchy in the country,’’ said a joint statement by two unions who said they were planning general strikes and protests in the coming days. “We shall neither surrender nor retreat.’’
So WHO BENEFITS from the anarchy, 'eh?
And the PROTESTS and STRIKES went UNCOVERED as the "terrorists" started bombing churches, cui bono?
Unrest would only add to Nigeria’s security woes: President Goodluck Jonathan already declared a state of emergency over the weekend in parts of the country hit by a growing Islamic insurgency that is fueled in part by widespread poverty.
And fuel prices may rise even higher in the landlocked and violence-plagued north, as Nigeria’s refined oil is mainly imported through ports in the country’s south.
Signs at a gas stations that were open yesterday put the cost at $3.50 per gallon, more than double Sunday’s morning price of about $1.70 per gallon. Although cheap by US standards, most Nigerians subsist on just $2 a day, and the rising gas prices are expected to force food prices to spiral as well.
Actually, that's not true at all. Cost is about the same here.
Is there nothing the newspaper will not distort?
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