Politics and oil prices go hand in hand these days, as the ongoing U.S. conflict with the Middle East has proved. Now, another country’s politics have added to the creeping increase of oil prices – in this case, the presidential elections to be held in Nigeria this Saturday.
This is the second stage in the Nigerian elections, although many hope the tone of the elections changes soon. Last week’s state elections were tainted by reports of vote rigging, intimidation, fraud and violence. In fact, Nigerian newspaper The Guardian recently stated that “the election has brought Nigeria to the crossroads of an emergency,” that “what happened in the name of Gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly elections on April 14, was a charade,” and “the options available to save the country from impending danger are now very few indeed.”
According to a recent report, most commentators aren’t too worried with the possibility that the Nigerian sense of national unity would break down “among the nation’s 250 ethnic groups into a period of tribal and religious warfare.” Tensions in Nigeria are still high, however, as the weekend draws closer.
And Nigeria’s not the only one sweating bullets. Reuters reports stated that oil prices rose on Friday in response to worries about the Nigerian election. Nigeria, being the world’s eighth-largest exporter of crude oil, holds an important place in the international oil community – and, as the Middle East has shown us in recent months, when a political climate becomes turbulent, the oil exported from its country rises.
London Brent crude rose 37 cents to $66.31 a barrel by 10:00 a.m. CST, while U.S. Crude was up 99 cents at $62.82.