The cost of oil, literally.

It's astonishing to think how much oil has affected Africa without benefiting the country at all.

The Africans seemed to not be interested in the use of it, and yet it is be sucked from the veins of the land and leaving mother earth dry. And those who fight to protect their intellect, to find themselves benefiting from a ruthless trade, are coming up short, and turned away.Not only that, but it has destroyed the land and the spirit of the people who call it home.

Where is home when greed and corruption become your needy neighbor?

"This is our land," a dark and round-faced young man named Judé piped up. "We've seen no benefit from it. We lost our land and have received nothing for it. At first they said they were going to build hospitals and dispensaries here. But they've done none of that." Exxon, Chief Tamro explained, had offered the village its choice of five options: a school, a well, a granary, one kilometer of paved road, or a marketplace. The villagers chose the school, understanding that it would house six grades, but ExxonMobil built them a two-room schoolhouse instead. "Let me ask you something, sir." The chief tried to contain his frustration. "If I take something from you, should I then come and dictate the terms of my compensation to you for the loss? Surely it is for me to apologize and ask you what I can do to make it up to you."

Oil industries within Africa have five countries that dominate the oil game, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Angola and Nigeria. They produce 83-87% of the continents oil. And althought they are not the only countries dominated by this (there are 52)they take the lead. The oil industries within Africa confirmed 73-77 billion barrels of oil make up 7 percent of the entire global total.



AFRICAN OPEC MEMBERS PRODUCTION mb/d--Last Updated on Oct.16-2008


2006
2007
1Q08
2Q08
3Q08
Jul 08
Aug 08
Sep 08
Sep/Aug

Algeria
1.37
1.36
1.40
1.40
1.41
1.40
1.41
1.41
0.00

Angola
1.39
1.66
1.87
1.90
1.85
1.90
1.87
1.77
-0.10

Libya
1.70
1.71
1.75
1.73
1.69
1.69
1.67
1.72
0.05

Nigeria
2.23
2.13
2.04
1.86
1.95
1.92
1.95
2.00
0.05

(According to the African Oil Journal)



And seeing as I'm just a naive consumer and never really checking the labels on what I purchase, by reading the article I was unaware that we tapped into more African sources than in Saudi Arabia. Everytime I go home, or go to see my friends, with each drop of oil I pump into my '95 Bonneville, I'm supporting destroying somebody else's home.



How do we stop it?