Nigeria

Submitted by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

Depressed oil prices, rampant corruption, and pipeline vandalism are only parts of Nigeria’s oil problem. It’s now losing a massive 400,000 barrels of crude daily to pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, an amount equal to the entire daily export capacity of its Forcados terminal.

Overall damage from piracy, theft and fraud for Africa’s largest oil exporter is estimated at some $1.5 billion a month, according to U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN, Michele Sison, citing a Chatham House report.

The terror attacks in Paris and Brussels have rightly caused huge outrage across the world, but as millions in the West took to social media to share their anger and grief, there are numerous other attacks across the globe that go largely unreported in the mainstream media. The list below complied by RT highlights just five that have been largely forgotten: NIGERIA – Over 80 killed, children burned to death On January 30, Boko Haram terrorists killed 86 people after they attacked a village in northeast Nigeria.

In this bipolar market, where only momentum, liquidity, technicals and short squeezes matter, as well as the occasional kneejerk reaction to a flashing red headline (usually some lie out of Venezuela or Nigeria about an imminent OPEC meeting which has not even been scheduled), one thing that no longer seems to have an impact on prices is actual news and fundamentals.

Authored by Steve H. Hanke of the Johns Hopkins University. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Hanke.

Nigeria’s currency (the naira) has been officially pegged in a range of 197-199 NGN/USD for nearly a year. But, that’s a phony government rate. As shown in the accompanying chart, the black market (read: free market) rate has exploded since October, and currently stands at 350 NGN/USD.

Multiple bombings of oil pipelines in southern Nigeria has caused a massive oil spill into surrounding areas. Attacks on the Agip oil pipelines have caused thousands of barrels of oil to pollute waterways, farms and fishing grounds in the southern Bayelsa state. Oil flowed unchecked for two days, according to fishermen who complained that a clean-up had not yet started. Press TV reports: The unidentified official said 16,000 barrels of oil per day were lost since explosions on Thursday and Friday which were blamed on militants who want a bigger share of oil revenues in the producing state.