Recent military attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria have dragged the country’s daily crude production down by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), figures by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) show.
Nigeria’s oil output is currently 1.5 million bpd compared to what would be a regular production of 2.2 million bpd. However, as Seeking Alpha reports, traders estimate that the current output may be even lower, at some 1.3 million bpd.
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have claimed most of the recent sabotages at oil facilities. The militant group, which has vowed not to allow the export of even “one litre of crude in the Niger Delta,” has been targeting pipelines belonging to NNPC and foreign oil majors Shell, Eni and Chevron.
Just a few days ago, NDA claimed responsibility for the latest pipeline blast in the Niger Delta, this time of a gas transport facility of the NNPC in the state of Akwa-Ibom. The disruption was the latest in a long stream of attacks on oil and gas production and transport infrastructure in the impoverished Niger Delta, which has also involved several other militant groups.
Nationwide, currently facilities at Qua Iboe, Forcados and Brass River are under force majeure, while Escravos and Bonny Light experience major loading delays.
By May this year, the increasingly frequent attacks had cut such a significant portion of Nigeria’s oil output that it caused a rally in global oil prices.
Now, the federal government says it is conducting talks with militant groups from the Niger Delta region but the NDA has said it is not taking part in any such talks. In any case, the attacks, which have so far cost Nigeria’s top spot among oil exporters in Africa to Angola, seem likely to continue until the government succeeds in meeting the various demands of the different groups.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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