# Oil Discovered at Oloibiri (15 January 1956)

URL: https://allhistories.com/nigeria/timeline/1956-oil-discovered-at-oloibiri
Location: Oloibiri, Niger Delta (present Bayelsa State)
Themes: main-event

On 15 January 1956 the Shell-D'Arcy company (later Shell-BP) discovered commercial oil at Oloibiri in what is now Bayelsa State, after exploration since 1937 and drilling in 1951. Crude from the field went by pipeline to Port Harcourt and, in February 1958, the first exports began at about 5,000 barrels per day. Exports grew sharply as new fields were found, and by the late 1960s oil dominated the economy. Oloibiri itself gained little and the field was exhausted by the 1970s, becoming a symbol of delta grievances over pollution, underdevelopment and revenue control that fed later militancy. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day Nigeria lay with James Robertson, Governor-General of Nigeria (1955–1960). Oil turned Nigeria into a major exporter and reshaped federal finances, politics and the civil war, while leaving the Delta a long-running grievance.

## Why it matters
The Oloibiri strike launched Nigeria's oil era and its dependence on petroleum revenue.

Ruler at the Time: [James Robertson](https://allhistories.com/nigeria/rulers/james-robertson)

## Sources
- [Oloibiri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oloibiri)
- [History of Nigeria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nigeria)
- [countrystudies.us](https://countrystudies.us/nigeria/)