Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Pipeline tapping and the disruptive effect of oil in Africa
by Warren
Given the recent pipeline explosion in Nigeria that took over 200 lives, maybe it’s time to take a look at just what’s going on in Africa vis a vis your gas tank. It turns out the recent explosion was due to “tapping”, a practice where Nigerians siphon off oil from a pipeline that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. In fact, most of Africa suffers from a system where the elite get rich off oil revenues (while we send the stuff back home to fuel our industry, homes and vehicles) and the poor live in what amounts to Stone Age squalor. For a really interesting analysis of the situation, check out “The Curse of Oil,” an essay by John Ghazvinian.