Posted by AP on
Local unrest in Nigeria has forced Total SA's onshore Obagi oil field to shut down production for the past five days, the French company said Friday.
* Production Stopped at Total's Obagi Field in Nigeria Since Monday
PARIS (AP) -- Local unrest in Nigeria has forced Total SA's onshore Obagi oil field to shut down production for the past five days, the French company said Friday.
Total said it is in talks with local communities to solve the problem and resume output at Obagi, which produces 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent and 6 million cubic meters (212 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day. Production stopped Monday.
Oil production in Nigeria, the top African producer, is frequently slowed by ethnic violence and labor unrest.
The French company produced an average of 271,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Nigeria last year, mostly from offshore fields.
Obagi is Total's only onshore field in operation in Nigeria since the company shut down work at its Upomami field, where five workers were killed in 2003.