Nigeria Losing US$80 Million Daily Due to Niger Delta Crisis

Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’adua Thursday said that his country was losing $80 million in revenue daily due to the insecurity existing in the restless Niger Delta, where insurgents have been disrupting oil facilities as part of a campaign to gain a share of the resources.

Addressing a two-day conference and mini exhibition on Oil and Gas in Port Harcourt in southeastern Nigeria which ends Friday, Yar’adua said that unless something was done urgently, the nation might lose its grip on the offshore oil exploration in the West African sub-region.

He said that other competitors like Ghana and Equatorial Guinea were beginning to match Nigeria’s production of oil.

Yar’adua, whose concern might have been linked to a recent explosion of an offshore oil rig owned by Shell at Bonga, said that the Nigerian government was out to ensure a lasting solution to the Niger Delta problem.

“The Federal Government is ready to do anything that will ensure peace and the development of Niger Delta, as over 80 percent of government’s revenue comes from oil and gas,” he said.

Source African Press Agency

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