Nigeria expat oil workers demand relocation

Published:  24 May at 6 PM
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Increasing numbers of expatriates working in the Nigerian oil industry are putting their own safety first and demanding relocation to other, less dangerous, countries.

As the attacks on international oil company installations by militant gangs increase, expat oil workers are making known their demands to be transferred to less perilous locations elsewhere in the world. As a result, major oil producers are making their concerns known to the country’s oil ministry.

At the present time, attacks by a relatively new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, have decreased oil production by more than a million barrels per day. The shrinking output and vastly increased militancy are now being regarded as a major security issue affecting both the installations and the workers.

Government websites in many countries now include security and safety warnings for those thinking of working or visiting Nigeria. Expats at present employed in the country’s massive oil production facilites in the Niger Delta are taking notice and making plans to leave for more expat-friendly locations. The evacuation of oil workers from the affected areas is now a first priority for international oil producers with facilities in the Niger Delta.

However, some expat workers are demanding immediate evacuation from Nigeria until the long-established terrorist attacks in the region are dealt with on a permanent basis. Once a popular sector for overseas investment, Nigeria is now considered a pariah as the insurgencies are now clearly out of control. Oil producers are pleading with the government to protect their investments as well as those of other businesses in the Delta, and are suggesting a temporary lockdown of the facilites as an immediate answer.

It’s not just oil pipelines and installations which are being blown up by terrorists, it’s also primary export terminals on the coast and gas lines supplying industry and the population elsewhere in the country. Militant activity over the past several years has cut the country’s oil production capability to its lowest point in 22 years, severely affecting Nigeria’s volatile economy.
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