By Dulue Mbachu
June 16 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has restored output at its Forcados crude export terminal in Nigeria, which was shut because of disruptions by armed groups in the southern Niger River delta.
Weve been able to restore production to the level we were before, Mutiu Sunmonu, head of Shell companies in Nigeria, said in an interview in Lagos yesterday. Were beginning to see an upward swing in production because of the peace returning to the delta.
He didnt give current output figures. The Forcados terminal normally has capacity for about 400,000 barrels a day.
Attacks by armed groups in the delta, home to Nigerias oil and gas industry, cut the countrys output by more than 28 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to Bloomberg data. Nigeria, which vies with Angola as Africas top producer, is the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.
Rebel attacks on the energy industry have dropped since thousands of fighters accepted a government amnesty last year and agreed to disarm. Nigerias oil production rose to almost 2.1 million barrels a day last month from 1.75 million barrels a day in July 2009, according to Bloomberg data.
Shell is the operator of a joint venture in which the state oil company Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. holds a 55 percent stake. Shell holds a 30 percent interest, followed by Total SA with 10 percent and Eni SpA with 5 percent.
–Editors: John Buckley, Raj Rajendran
To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Lagos at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at [email protected]
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on Aug 29th, 2010 at 14:27
That was a good move by shell. But Shell you need to do more especially as it regards to Nigeria oil issues.
Bigmodo
http://www.crude-oil-sellers.com/