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>>> Oil is so cheap even pirates don't want it anymore



Business Insider

By Akin Oyedele



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/oil-cheap-even-pirates-dont-130016625.html



Crude oil is no longer a major economic boon for many of the world's producers.

And now, even pirates don't want it.

A Bloomberg report Monday noted that attacks on vessels shipping oil in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa have dropped by one-third in the past year while oil prices crashed.

The gulf includes the Atlantic waters just south of Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer and OPEC member.

This is a key trading route for oil supplies from the region to Europe and North America.

The region has been plagued by oil thefts and illegal shipments that cost Nigeria in the hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day.

But with little help from the authorities, the oil crash has helped reduce this problem for now, though Bloomberg notes that the attacks could pick up again if oil prices rise.

In early trade Wednesday after news that Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, and Venezuela agreed to freeze production at current levels — though Iran said it would not get on board with this move — prices were little changed.

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