Overview
Crude oil is the resource that reshaped Nigeria's economy, its federal politics and the fortunes of the Niger Delta more than any other. It is found in the sedimentary basin of the delta and in the shallow waters offshore, and it has been produced continuously since the late 1950s. Oil turned a country whose exports had been dominated by palm oil, groundnut and cocoa into one whose public revenue came mainly from a single commodity.
Where it's found
The producing fields lie across the Niger Delta basin, principally in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom states, with further production in Edo, Imo and Abia and in offshore blocks in the Gulf of Guinea. The onshore fields sit among creeks, farmland and mangrove in communities belonging to the Ijaw, Ogoni, Urhobo, Itsekiri and neighbouring peoples.
History of exploitation
Exploration by colonial-era concessionaires began in the early twentieth century and continued, without commercial success, for decades. The first commercial discovery was made at Oloibiri, in what is now Bayelsa State, around 1956, and exports began around 1958, shortly before independence. Production and the number of operating fields expanded through the 1960s and 1970s, moving progressively offshore in the later decades as shallow-water and then deep-water blocks were developed.
Economic role
This page does not carry production volumes, prices or reserve estimates, which change constantly. Historically, crude oil overtook agricultural exports as Nigeria's main source of foreign exchange during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and revenue from it has funded federal and state budgets since. That shift is central to the post-war period: federal control of oil revenue changed the balance between the centre and the regions, and made the formula for sharing that revenue a permanent feature of Nigerian politics.
Environmental and social impact
Oil spills from pipelines, wellheads and sabotage, and the flaring of associated gas, have caused well-documented damage in parts of the delta, including contaminated soil and groundwater, damaged mangrove and losses to farming and fishing. A United Nations Environment Programme assessment of Ogoniland, published in 2011, documented contamination at numerous sites and recommended a long remediation programme. Communities across the delta have pressed for cleanup, compensation and a larger share of revenue. Claims, litigation and remediation programmes remain unresolved in various forums, and this page does not adjudicate them.
Connected history and people
Two figures already on this site are tied directly to delta oil. Isaac Adaka Boro, an Ijaw activist, led a short-lived declaration of a Niger Delta Republic in 1966, framed around control of the region's resources. Ken Saro-Wiwa, an Ogoni writer, led the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People from the early 1990s in a campaign against environmental damage in Ogoniland and for Ogoni rights; he was executed in 1995 after a military tribunal, and the case drew international condemnation. Shell operated in Ogoniland for decades from the 1950s and withdrew from production there in 1993, documented facts that sit alongside disputes this site does not take a position on.