FACTBOX – Why unrest in Nigeria’s oil heartland matters

(Reuters) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown meets Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua in London on Wednesday and is expected to discuss ways to help Nigeria tackle lawlessness in its oil-producing Niger Delta.

Below are answers to some questions about the Niger Delta and why it matters to the wider world.

WHY IS THE DELTA IMPORTANT?

The Niger Delta, a network of thousands of shallow creeks opening into the Gulf of Guinea, is the heartland of a 2 million barrels per day (bpd) oil industry which makes Nigeria the world’s eighth biggest oil exporter.

Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell, U.S. energy firms Exxon Mobil and Chevron, France’s Total and Italy’s AGIP all have major production facilities in the region.

The United States, the world’s top energy consumer, has said it wants the Gulf of Guinea to supply a quarter of its crude oil imports by the middle of next decade. China depends on Africa for some 30 percent of its oil imports.

Reuters