Locational Effects of the Civil War on the Nigerian Petroleum Industry

The Nigerian petroleum industry has experienced a dynamic rate of growth, particularly since the outbreak of civil war in 1967. The annual value of crude-oil exports rose significantly, from 219,193,120 in 1967 to 1,448,608,640 in 1971. Accompanying this expansion was a shift in the focus of intensive crude-oil exploitation in Nigeria. By the end of the war, in 1970, the Midwestern State had superseded the former Eastern Region as the premier producer of crude oil in Nigeria. Intensive crude-oil activities in the Midwestern State, coupled with the satellization policy of the companies that exploited crude oil, had a differential impact on the growth of settlements in the crude-oil-producing areas of the state.