Nigeria has lost over 130m barrels of crude oil from January to November this year to the activities of 32 militant groups in the Niger Delta region since the resurgence of militancy in the oil-producing region in 2015, This Day informed.
This came after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu, said the President’s roadmap for the petroleum industry would assist in stabilizing the region for the oil and gas sector, reported Ecofin Agency.
The Vice-Chairman of the Security Subcommittee of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Shina Bankole, stated that between January and November, around 58 incidents of sabotage were recorded where oil and gas facilities belonging to the oil companies were vandalized At the height of this crisis, Nigerian production dropped to 1.1m b/d, affecting the economy and making the country lose its position as Africa’s top producer to Angola last March.
The Nigerian government is struggling to reach a consensus with the militants who are demanding for a greater share of energy wealth to go to the swampland region. Furthermore, in early November, Nigeria’s oil production had fallen by at least 200,000b/d as a result of a militant attack that has forced the closure of the major Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP).
