Oil Companies Ordered out of Nigeria

On Wednesday, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) ordered oil workers to leave Nigeria within 24 hours. MEND has extended the ultimatum on Thursday for another 48 hours and threatened to attack helicopters and planes after the deadline.

[MEND E-Mail Statement]: "Considering the extension time plea by some oil companies, we are extending our quit deadline by another 48 hours to enable staff evacuation." MEND said early on Thursday it destroyed five military gunboats and support vessels in Nigeria's southern Delta state. The military denied the claim. Okwi Ejezie, a Lagos-based lawyer, said it was time for MEND to change its tactics. [Okwi Ejezie, Lagos-Based Lawyer]: "I think MEND should really soft-peddle on their approach, particularly in the approach to use of threats and kidnapping to achieve their means, it is time that they changed their tactics." A third Lagos-based attorney says the solution lies in self-determination. [Adebowale Pelumi, Lagos-Based Attorney]: "The issue of the Niger Delta problem has a very simple solution, the solution is this: it has to do with self-determination. Let there be a national sovereign conference and there will be an end to all these problems in the Niger Delta and elsewhere in Nigeria." Attacks by MEND have cut Nigeria's oil and gas output by about 20 percent since early 2006. This has had a negative effect on OPEC members' foreign earnings, making the impact of the global downturn more severe.

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[Tradethinker]

...this is getting pretty bad...