Nigeria's New Leader Woos Oil Companies
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Acting President Jonathan
Nigeria's new acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, is attempting to breathe life into the nation's ailing energy sector just two days after assuming the duties of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been out of the country since November with health problems.
Mr. Jonathan summoned several executives from foreign oil companies on Thursday to meet with top Nigerian officials. A focal point of the talks: militants who have sabotaged pipelines, disrupting production and oil prices.
Mr. Jonathan is Nigeria's first president from an ethnic minority of the Niger Delta—an area the size of England that is rich in oil but long plagued by poverty and violence against the energy industry. That ethnic background could help him work with militants in consolidating the peace process, say officials and analysts.
"There's concern that the militants are getting irritated and worried," said Emmanuel Egbogah, the president's oil adviser.
Under the peace program that began last summer, the Nigerian government has essentially paid militants to lay down their arms. However, the delta's main militant group recently called off its cease fire because of its unhappiness over how little money the government is putting into the region.
Wale Tinubu, chief executive of Oando PLC, Nigeria's biggest nonstate energy company by revenue and oil production, said he thinks Mr. Jonathan's ascent to power could spur the reconciliation process between the government and militants.