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		Daily Independent US Navy to patrol Nigeria�s oil rich waters � Joint US/Nigeria military exercise on course By Oguwike Nwachuku Deputy Editor, News (with agency reports)   A United States Navy battle group is set to flex muscles in the oil-rich waters of the Gulf of Guinea, off West Africa, including Nigeria, as America�s interest in oil in these areas gets deeper. Confirmation of the development came from US diplomats at the weekend. They also said Washington is honing plans to escape its dependence on unstable Middle East supplies by securing more African crude. And they raised hopes of a joint Nigeria-US operations taking off soonest, as a Naval admiral from the US is billed to visit Nigeria in August or September to put finishing touches to the issue said to be already under consideration. The foray by a heavily armed carrier group into the waters off Nigeria, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and other African oil producers, comes at a time when fuel prices are topping the US political agenda and security crises in the Gulf region are pushing demands for greater diversification in energy supplies, according to agency reports. An Abuja-based US diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that the Gulf of Guinea is "a place where there is not normally an American presence" and described the operation as "a show of force". He added: "Operation Summer Pulse '04 aims to demonstrate the capabilities of the US Navy; before we only had two or three operations involving aircraft carriers at any one time," he said, adding that seven carrier groups are to be deployed in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Guinea. "The Navy wants, through this exercise, to demonstrate to the world that, even with all its current responsibilities, it can still position half-a-dozen aircraft carriers with all the necessary support ships in the four corners of the world, at the same time�. However, the Nigerian military also told AFP that it has no knowledge of any upcoming joint programmes in the Gulf of Guinea. "Honestly, I don't think Nigeria is involved in the operation. I cannot confirm our involvement because I don't have any information on it," said Nigerian defence headquarters spokesman, Lt-Colonel Ganiyu Adewale. A statement posted on the Pentagon website said: "Beginning this week and continuing through August, the Navy will exercise the full range of skills involved in simultaneously deploying and employing carrier strike groups around the world. "Summer Pulse '04 will include scheduled deployments, surge operations, joint and international exercises, and other advanced training and port visits�. The US diplomatic explained that future joint US-Nigerian military exercises are under consideration, but that the planned visit to Nigeria of a US admiral has been postponed "until August or September". With crude prices � and hence the pump price for US fuel consumers ��� near all-time highs, and with violence and sabotage threatening to disrupt oil exports from Saudi Arabia and US-occupied Iraq, US policy makers are increasingly looking to West Africa for secure crude supplies.
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