The promise of increases to come...

Nigeria disruptions to supply, inventory losses, refinery problems...

We hear every day now, that pricing will rise further to consumers and that there is no relief in sight. What we do know is that refiners have been making a fortune and so have their Big Oil cousins. All said, the promise is there for pricing to hit record levels, especially after todays news.

The situation in Nigeria is a restless one. When oil was discovered there some years back, it brought with it the promise of a better life for those who didn't know the wealth to be gleaned from the underground resource. All that was heard was that "things wuld get a whole lot better".

They haven't...

Especially in the resource rich Niger delta where most of the resource is located.

The people there live in squalor and they have yet to see any tangible benefits like money for education, roads and infrastructure.

Where is Big Oil in this?

Does Big Oil have a responsibility to look after a people when it goes for their resources, especially when a government like that of Nigeria fails them? Should Big Oil continue to rape a resource knowing that the harvest of which can bring the problems that have come to be realised?

What of the next country?

Next time you go to the pumps, consider this:

If I have to pay high prices for a product that is succeptible to the pressures of a geo-political situation in Africa, should I have to see pump pricing that DEPENDS on a resource from that region? Should I be worried that someone is smacking a hole in a pipeline to get part of a product that I can take for granted at the pumps of Young Street in Toronto or Kenmount Road in St. John's?

Should geo-political problems elsewhere be the determining factor in the resons why Canada should have its own sources of supply rather than be dependent on someone else's resource, namely Nigeria's?

Toady, Shell announced that it has lost another 170k barrels a day in crude oil production from that country and so far, the markets are pointing up on the news. The promise is there at this time, to see another couple of cents on the pump price by tomorrow morning, all for the simple sake that the citizens of the Niger Delta are looking for their piece of the oil-rich pie: for fairness and fair treatment.

Perhaps it is time we look at ourselves and a secure supply for Canada, not just for our sake but for the sake of a people who are thrown to the wayside in the vain hope that Big Oil is looking merely at profits instead of ensuring the people of the country get their fair share rather than letting despots who rule the roost gather the benefits derived.

Perhaps Big Oil should take part responsibility in getting the people of that country looked after before they smack a drill-bit in the ground. Maybe they shouldn't pay directly to governments who aren't going to look after the people for them. Ahhhhh, but that's the way governance works in the world, isn't it?

Perhaps it should be the case where Big Oil should just back away until people's rights are recognised.


Regards,

George