Attacks by militants in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger
Delta region have cut oil production by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd),
according to the country’s petroleum minister.
An offshore facility run by U.S. company Chevron,
which produced 35,000 bpd, was shut down in May following
an attack, while Shell has reportedly evacuated some of its staff from an
oilfield in the region due to the increased risk of attack.
A newly-formed group calling itself the Niger Delta
Avengers claimed responsibility for the Chevron attack and said, on its website, that its
“major goal” is “to cripple the Nigerian economy.” Nigeria’s military claims to
have arrested members of the group and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has
warned that oil militants will be dealt with in
the same manner as Boko Haram. Nigerian armed forces have been
carrying out a sustained offensive against the Islamist militant group over the
past year, taking back much of the territory once
controlled by Boko Haram.
Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu
said on Monday that the attacks had cut Nigeria’s oil production from an
average of 2.2 million bpd to 1.4 million bpd. “We are going to work hard to
see how we will get these issues resolved and get our production back,” said
Kachikwu in an appearance before a special session of the lower house of
Nigeria’s parliament, according to Premium Times.
The dip means that Nigeria is—at least
temporarily—no longer Africa’s biggest oil producer. Angola is currently
producing 1.8 million bpd, while Nigeria was recorded as producing 1.69 million
bpd, in an early May research note from RBC Capital Commodities reported by Business Insider.
Militants in the Niger Delta region conducted a
campaign of kidnappings, killings and pipeline sabotage during
the mid-2000s, which at its peak cut Nigeria’s oil production to 800,000 bpd. A
presidential amnesty program was introduced in 2009, which offered subsidies to
militants who gave up arms and earmarked lucrative security contracts for
former militant leaders, reduced violence in the region. But Buhari has cut funding for
the program by 70 percent in his 2016 budget and has spoken of
phasing it out completely in the next few years.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency issued an arrest
warrant for former Niger Delta militant leader Government Ekpemupolo—known better as
Tompolo—in January on money laundering charges totaling 46 billion
naira ($231 million), which he denies. The issuing of the warrant coincided
with several attacks on oil facilities, although Tompolo has denied any
involvement in the recent wave of attacks.
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