Nigeria: Rush for Oil

Hardly had the fighting ended in Biafra when the world's oilmen hustled in, checking damage to refineries, oil tanks and pipelines and preparing to tap wells that had been blocked off for 30 months. By early next month, drillers expect production to reach 780,000 bbl. a day. That would be enough to 1) supply all the needs of an industrial country the size of The Netherlands and the Union of South Africa combined, and 2) put Nigeria among the world's top ten oil producers.

Oil fueled the Nigerian civil war. The major fields...

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