Africa economy
Nigeria: facing gasoline shortages from organized illegal refineries (2/2)
Audio 02:17
According to the researchers, between 5% and 20% of Nigeria's oil production is siphoned off, destined for the local or international market.
(Illustrative image) REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
By: Liza Fabbian
2 mins
Nigeria is facing a new gasoline shortage that is causing chaos in major cities across the country.
The continent's largest crude oil producer imports almost all of its fuel and regularly faces supply difficulties.
In the oil regions, plagued by unemployment and poverty, artisanal fuel has invaded the market.
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From our correspondent in Lagos,
Times are not easy for Lucky's business.
As the Nigerian Navy redoubles its efforts to curb artisanal oil production, the 30-year-old refiner says he is having more and more trouble finding the money demanded of him each month by the military in station in the creeks of the Niger delta.
“
We only prepare the fuel at night because they say we are thieves
,” explains Lucky.
“
But once you've paid the army and the civil defence, you're at ease.
Unless of course they change the chef, then you may have problems, because he will want you to pay him first.
I manage 9 illegal refining sites.
For each site, I have to pay
4,000 euros.
So the total is almost 40,000 euros.
That's what they're asking
.
»
► Also to listen: Oil theft in the Niger Delta
Training and remuneration
The young man with the emaciated face and bright eyes is a former “agitator” who took part in attacks on oil infrastructure in the early 2000s. After signing an amnesty agreement with the Nigerian state, he was could receive training and money.
“
Yes, they gave me money but, in the end, it was too little.
Only 125 euros per month
”, observes Lucky.
“
They also sent me for training in South Africa for 9 months – I was trained in underwater welding.
So, thanks to this knowledge, I am able to open a pipeline myself.
I buy the hardware, get my guys, dive in and crack it open, then pump out the crude oil.
It costs around
5,000 euros to open a connection point like that
,” he continues.
Illegal oil trafficking market
In the Niger Delta, illegal oil trafficking is a real market, in which former militants of the movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, the security forces and certain politicians are involved, according to researcher Tairla Macclint Ediebe .
You need pipelines, you need ships, you need security, weapons, a market.
You need structures to be able to extract the oil and put it on the market or export it.
And it's just impossible for those kinds of structures to exist totally outside the formal structures of the state.
According to the researchers, between 5% and 20% of Nigeria's oil production is siphoned off, destined for the local or international market.
► To read also: Nigeria: the small hands of artisanal oil trafficking
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Nigeria
Oil
Economy Africa