At War in Nigeria

Mr. Nouraee’s satire serves up some truth in his latest weekly column:

“The people who live in the Nigerian states that provide fuel for American cars typically lack electricity or even clean drinking water. How screwed up is that?”

The other day, I took my barrel down to the neighborhood oil well for a quick fill-up.

“That’ll be $68.72,” the attendant said, screwing the cap back on my filled barrel.

“$68.72!” I gasped. “That’s the most I’ve paid for a barrel of oil since the weekend after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. What the heck is going on?”

“Two things,” the attendant replied. “Thanks to big American cars and big Chinese factories, world demand for oil is at an all-time high. Secondly, world oil markets are worried that the looming nuclear showdown with Iran and civil unrest in Nigeria might interrupt supply.

“Thank you. Come again.”

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil exporter and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports. Nigerian oil is especially well-liked by Americans for two reasons.

The first is geography: Nigeria is on the coast of West Africa, closer to the United States and farther from the predictably unpredictable Middle East.

The second reason is chemistry. All crude oil is not the same. Nigerian oil is “light and sweet.” “Light and sweet” is petro-jargon meaning that Nigerian crude oil is low in sulphur and easier to refine into gasoline than, say, most Saudi oil. It also tastes great on pancakes!

The downside…

Posted by atrain
Ari Paul has written for The American Prospect, In These Times, Tikkun, Z, Punk Planet, openDemocracy.net, Reason and other newspapers and magazines. He is also a reporter for The Chief-Leader, a New York weekly covering labor in the city.