The Nigerian government will make illicit refineries operating in the Niger Delta legal, and will even supply them with crude oil, the presidency announced yesterday. The legalization process will take until the end of the year, and the crude they will process will be sold at a reasonable price. The move, in stark contrast with years of forceful shutdowns of illegal refineries in the poverty-ridden Delta, follows negotiations between the federal government and local community leaders that were aimed at resolving problems, including oil theft that causes spills and losses for pipeline operators as well as lack of jobs in the area. Oil theft is how most of these mini-refineries get the crude to process, and it has been a major headache for Nigeria’s oil industry. Last month, Bloomberg’s Paul Wallace reported that according to Wood Mackenzie estimates, almost a third of the crude that flows along pipelines in […]