The Discovery of Oil
Developers in the pursuit of commercially available oil struck it big in 1956. Prior to the discovery of oil, Nigeria like many other African states strongly relied on agricultural exports to other countries to supply their economy. In fact, that’s what many Nigerians thought the developers were looking for—palm oil. But after nearly 50 years searching for oil in the state, Shell-BP discovered the oil at Oloibiri in the Niger Delta. Wishing to utilize this newfound oil opportunity, the first oil field began production in 1958. After that, the economy of Nigeria would have seemingly experienced a strong increase. However, competition for the profits that oil produces has created a great level of terror and conflict for those living in the region. Citizens of Nigeria believe that they haven’t been able to see the economic benefits of oil companies in the state. Additionally, because Nigerian government officials have remained majority shareholders in the profits created by the production of Nigerian oil, this leads to government capturing of nearly all oil production, and citizens aren’t seeing socioeconomic benefits, and insist that oil companies should compensate people.
Read more about this topic: Petroleum Industry In Nigeria
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