The office of President Goodluck Jonathan's, summing up his first 100 days in office, declared that one of his administration's achievements was Nigeria again retaining its position as Africa's largest oil exporter, surging ahead of Angola after the insurgency in the country's militant Niger Delta was quelled.
Nigeria currently produces about 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd), a rate which fell to 1.8 million bpd when fighting in the Niger Delta sharply curtailed production.
Special Adviser to the President Jonathan on Media and Publicity Reuben Abati said, "Boosted by the overwhelming success of the amnesty program of the current administration, Nigeria's oil production expanded by 20 per cent and she reclaimed her foremost position as Africa's largest oil exporter, which she had hitherto lost to Angola.
Nigeria sets a new record by being recognized by OPEC in July as the second largest oil exporter in the cartel, second only to Saudi Arabia. It is the first time Nigeria has recorded such a feat," The Vanguard newspaper reported.
The U.S. United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) places Nigeria's proven oil reserves at between 16 and 22 billion barrels but other sources assert that Nigeria's potential oil reserves could in fact be as high as 35 billion barrels.
By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More