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LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president called Thursday for help finding a way to fingerprint crude-oil stocks in order to combat the theft and lucrative overseas sale of unrefined petroleum.
Umaru Yar’Adua said in a statement that he envisions a scheme similar to the tracking system used to cut back on the export of so-called blood diamonds that has long fueled African wars.
Nigerian militants, criminals and corrupt government officials are finding a lucrative trade in crude oil siphoned from Nigeria’s petroleum infrastructure. Battles over the proceeds are keeping the southern oil region in chaos.
