A new floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) arrived in Nigeria this week, adding 200,000 barrels per day of offshore output capacity to the OPEC country newly constrained by the bloc's production deal.
The vessel's arrival is part of a $16 billion project by Total on the Egina field, the French company told AFP. Egina lies 150 kilometers from Nigeria's southeastern coast and was first discovered by a consortium that included Total back in 2003. By the end of this year, output should be at 200,000 bpd-representing a full 10 percent of national production.
The ship is not ready to begin producing just yet. There are a few more modules on the way that will enhance the vessel's capabilities.
"This is a gigantic project that will do good in Nigeria, where production has peaked at about two million barrels per day," Benjamin Auge, associate researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, said.
Offshore projects do not face the same threats from Niger Delta militant groups that onshore ones do. Though the militias were largely inactive in 2017, the groups have been threatening to ramp up activities as progress slows on negotiations between Abuja and local leaders.
A coalition of Niger Delta groups has said the federal government has failed to address adequately the grievances voiced by local communities. After three weeks of consultations, they have decided to give Abuja three months to take urgent measures to restructure the oil industry in the Niger Delta and tighten resource control.
Last week, The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA)-the militant group responsible for most of the 2016 attacks on Nigeria's oil infrastructure-threatened to unleash the deadliest round of attacks on Nigeria's oil sector-"in a few days time".
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Zainab Calcuttawala is an American journalist based in Morocco. She completed her undergraduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook’em) and reports on… More
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