MTECHTIPS Nigerian Crude Oil outage only adds to supply pressures: Barclays

MTECHTIPS:-Nigerian Crude Oil outage only adds to supply pressures: Barclays

Nigerian oil output has followed a volatile course, with a series of disruptions to vital pipelines and subsequent force majeures being declared on its export cargoes. More recently, Nigerian oil production has faced a double whammy of oil thefts leading to a key oil pipeline being taken offline and flooding in oilfields shutting down production.President Jonathan has declared the flooding, which has displaced over a million people, a national disaster and created a new task force to coordinate the response.“In our view, the poor state of Nigeria’s infrastructure likely exacerbated the damage caused by the flooding, and until this larger problem is addressed, the country could be at risk for repeated calamities.” Barclays said.Similarly, there seems to be no silver bullet on the immediate horizon to eradicate oil theft in Nigeria.Any lasting solution would seemingly entail ending the culture of impunity and addressing the underlying social and economic conditions that have given rise to armed militancy and criminal activities in the Niger Delta.