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Article: Africa's oil giant runs on empty: Nigeria, the world's sixth-largest oil producer, does not have enough fuel for its own citizens' cars.(World)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- March 7, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It's like not being able to buy ice cubes in Alaska or not finding lobsters in a Maine market.
In Nigeria - the world's sixth-largest oil producer and the source of 800,000 barrels of oil used by the United States each day - citizens have a hard time filling up their gas tanks.
Drivers here either wait in lines hundreds of cars long or pay as much as five times the official rate on the black market.
It has long been the case that Nigerians - who occupy a land rich in gas and oil deposits - saw little of the proceeds from their nation's vast mineral wealth. Africa's most populous country has earned more than $280 billion from oil sales over ...