Meet the illegal oil refiners of Nigeria
Deep inside the mangrove forests of the Niger Delta, thousands of young men use makeshift equipment, risking arrest and accidents, to refine a valuable commodity: oil.
They fill a pressing gap in Nigeria. Africa’s top petroleum producer can’t refine nearly enough oil to fulfil its citizens’ needs. As fuel prices have surged in the last year, demand is higher than ever for black market fuel.
Yet illegal refiners face an increasingly intense clampdown from the government, which is trying to claw back lost revenue; and many communities in the Niger Delta blame them for contributing to decades of environmental damage caused by oil spills.
But when those who endure the worst of oil’s environmental impacts are also helping to keep the business alive, what does this tell us about a dirty yet essential commodity?
And what will it take to quit oil?
We travelled to the heart of the Niger Delta to find out.
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