Local oil firms embrace pricy barging amid leaky pipelines

Barges and smaller vessels used to transport crude are becoming an increasingly common sight at the heart of creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta, the home of Nigeria’s oil industry. These vessels, once a secondary expensive option for moving oil, are growing as domestic producers turn to barges to take tens of thousands of barrels at a time directly from wellheads to alternative terminals, according to interviews with executives and industry participants. Indigenous producers that control the majority of onshore output from Seplat and Sh