Nigeria’s oil production has fallen by at least 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) since a militant attack forced the closure of the major Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) on Wednesday, pushing the country’s output back below 2 million bpd.
Local Oil Company Shoreline said its 35,000 bpd of output was shut as a result of the pipeline closure. Several other local producers’ link up to the TFP including London and Lagos listed Seplat.
Exports of Forcados that only just resumed in October are expected to continue at a reduced rate. Force majeure was imposed earlier this year after an attack on a sub-sea pipeline in February and had not yet been lifted.
The TFP is the main contributor to the Forcados stream. Another 100,000 bpd or so of production by oil major Shell’s local arm SPDC was still flowing to the terminal through other pipelines, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu disclosed recently that overall production had recovered to around 2.1 million bpd following months of attacks, mainly by the Niger Delta Avengers, on various oil installations that had cut output by over 600,000 bpd.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier this week met with leaders of the oil-producing Niger Delta region for the first time in a bid to negotiate an end to the new wave of militancy that began early this year.
The region’s population has felt disenfranchised for decades as it has benefited little from Nigeria’s vast oil wealth and has watched traditional livelihoods such as fishing decline due to pollution.