Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Olawale Olaopa, Ibikunle Ogundari, Mike Awoleye, and Willie Siyanbola
“This strike - if successful - has the potential to yet again raise U.S.
retail oil prices,” says Bernard Perlstein, Editror, Newsinformant,
referring to October 2004 strike.
The high-priced oil in an oil-producing nation may sounds
peculiar, but the problem is traced largely to the Nigeria’s
refining capabilities, which much like their other industry, is so
inefficient that it is actually cheaper for this large oil-producer to
import refined oil on the global market.
Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
Like every policy measure, deregulation will not be without costs.
A cost-benefit analysis always forms a sound basis for adopting a
particular policy measure, and one believes that, in this case, the
benefits of deregulation peels off into insignificance compared to the
costs. The most obvious cost of deregulation is spiraling price
increases for transport, to food, to cement, to rent, and so on. This
chain of price increases is inevitable since, in economics, everything
affects everything else, however remotely. Oil is, of course, a unique
commodity and its effects are expected to be more pervasive. Although
government officials have argued that this scenario has not presented
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