A series of attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure has pushed its output of crude close to a 22-year low, Reuters data shows, putting intense pressure on the country’s finances.
The rebels, seeking a fairer share of revenue for locals in the oil-rich southern Delta, are increasingly targeting facilities, posing a fresh security challenge for Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, Vanguard wrote.
Shell workers at Nigeria’s Bonga oilfield in the southern Niger Delta were evacuated following a militant threat, a senior labour union official said, while other recent attacks forced Chevron to shut its Okan offshore facility, taking out 35,000bp/d.
While Shell said the latest unrest had not yet impacted production, its Forcados field is still closed and under force majeure following a February subsea pipeline attack, taking out 250,000bp/d. A Shell spokesman blamed technical issues, without giving further details. However, a community leader in the Delta said an explosion had shut down the pipeline, Hellenic Shipping News reported.
Nigeria was due to export around 217,000bp/d of Bonny Light crude in June, out of a total of 1.7mbp/d. If all Bonny Light production is cut, it would bring output to below 1.5mbp/d for the first time since September 1994, according to Energy Information Administration (IEA) data. Nigeria exports almost all its production, which as recently as 2013 was above 2mbp/d.