Report from Financial Times correspondent at Lagos that
the fresh threat to Dutch Shell's platforms and people in the
mission-critical Niger Delta is unlike any previous cycle. Usually
the gangs steal from the pipelines; the gangs grab a foreigner and
ransom him back; the gangs demand protection money. But the new
gang is called MEND, for the liberation of the Delta from the
central government and the oil cartels, and it looks much more like
a nationalist cadre than a shakedown crew. Is this the beginning of
a Viet Cong with oil? Grabbing four engineers, from UK, U.S.,
Honduras and Bolivia, the MEND gang wants Ijaw sympathizers
released from government jail and wants Shell to make a $1.5
billion downpayment to clean up the environment of the Delta.
Nigerian output is down near ten percent in less than a month.
The Obasanjo government is confused and fractured. The 2007
election demands a new president. Will Obasanjo use a crisis to
continue his clumsy, kleptocratic rule? Will Shell and Total and
Agip find a fee that the MEND gang accept instead of power sharing
in the Delta?
And why does the U.S. care? Because Nigeria is our fourth or
fifth daily supplier. The spike in oil barrel prices in London to
all time highs is not just Iranophobia.
Nigeria is as stable as Louisiana in hurricane season. Not if.
When.
topics:
Environment, Iran, Oil
