Contents: Nigeria's Economy • The Key Companies • Corporate/State Partnerships • The Case for Sanctions - the Debate • The Case for Unilateral Sanctions • Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations Conference on Nigeria. The speech says as many of you know a very large part of my life was devoted to working for the imposition of sanctions on apartheid South Africa; naturally I spent a lot of time opposing corporate arguments - and I cannot claim to have more than a couple of good friends among major CEO's. The speech says since the early 1970's the production and export of crude oil has come to totally dominate Nigeria's economy, most reserves being found along the country's coastal...
Contents: Nigeria's Economy • The Key Companies • Corporate/State Partnerships • The Case for Sanctions - the Debate • The Case for Unilateral Sanctions • Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations Conference on Nigeria. The speech says as many of you know a very large part of my life was devoted to working for the imposition of sanctions on apartheid South Africa; naturally I spent a lot of time opposing corporate arguments - and I cannot claim to have more than a couple of good friends among major CEO's. The speech says since the early 1970's the production and export of crude oil has come to totally dominate Nigeria's economy, most reserves being found along the country's coastal Niger River Delta. The speech says oil revenues are vital to the survival of the military dictatorship, accounting for 95% of hard currency earnings and at least 80% of government revenue. The speech says Nigeria is among the largest producers of oil in the world, (in the top seven) currently producing at least two and one quarter million barrels of high grade "sweet light" crude a day. The speech says the U.S. is by far the single largest market for Nigerian oil, purchasing between 35 and 45 percent of total production annually. The speech says figures for 1996, the most current, place U.S. purchases of Nigerian crude at over $4 billion dollars. The speech says 1998 marks the 40th year of oil production operations in Nigeria, initiated by Shell in 1958. The speech says in that time the company has pumped $30 billion worth of oil from Ogoniland alone and well over $100 billion worth of oil from the whole country. The speech says Nigeria's oil wealth has financed decades of military dictatorships and made Shell one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world, but it has brought only oppression, poverty and pollution to the Nigerian people. The speech says three oil companies -- Shell, Mobil and Chevron - - produce over 95% of Nigerian oil. The speech says Shell is by far the largest and produces about 49% of the total, followed by Mobil (24%) and Chevron (23%). The speech says Shell has begun a nearly $4 billion expansion of its Nigerian operations, with Mobil and Chevron also planning multi-billion dollar developments -- primarily in natural gas. The speech says under Nigerian law all oil production operations are structured as joint ventures between multinationals and the State oil company -- with the foreign firms as minority partners. The speech discusses the Energy Information Administration, Sani Abacha, the White House, human rights, environmental groups, corporate lobbying, the Clinton Administration, the Nigerian petro-economy, ANC (African National Congress), GAO (General Accounting Office), Rivers State Internal Security Task Force, MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People), security forces, Ken Saro Wiwa, Professor Claude Ake, Niger River Delta, gas flaring, environmental devastation, oil spills, military occupation, Ogoni protest, American diplomacy, multi-lateral support for sanctions, and a Shell pipeline.
