Posted by By Clara Nwachukwu on
Nigeria may have lost about 166.4billion barrels of crude oil to production shut in arising from the Niger Delta crises.....
Nigeria may have lost about 166.4billion barrels of crude oil to production shut in arising from the Niger Delta crises.
This volume amounts to about $11.65billion going by an average market price of $70 per barrel.
Daily average production loss since January 10, 2006 when the crisis began is estimated at 800,000 barrels.
There have been 14 attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, with 11 involving the kidnap of 61 expatriate workers.
One of the kidnapped men, identified as a staff of Baker Hughes, was killed in Port Harcourt on May 10.
Analysts said on Monday that the losses vary among all the major oil companies Shell, Chevron, Agip, Mobil and Total.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, had said that Nigeria had since February 18, been losing an average of $800million per day to production shut in by the oil companies.
On Monday, Daukoru expressed the hope that Nigeria would be able to meet its new three million barrels per day before December 31 from expected new productions in the deep water. However, there are no indications that the oil companies, mainly Shell and Chevron, would resume full production at their facilities in the oil-rich delta.
Government has been reluctant to reveal the actual production shut in, to prevent further tension in the international oil market, especially with Nigeria being among the top seven oil producers in the world.
Given the high international oil prices, oil producing nations are the happiest with light sweet crude, Nigerias brand of crude selling at $77.10 per barrel at the New York Merchantile Exchange, on Monday.
Brent Crude climbed to an all time high of $78.30 per barrel in response to market pressure following the closure of British Petroleums major oil fields in Alaska, United States due to a spill.
The shutdown will result in reduction in production of 400,000 barrels per day.
The high price of oil is also being spiked by the continued unrest in the Middle East, following Israels attacks on Lebanon.
There is no immediate hope of price falling below $70 per barrel as the Arab world is threatening to launch an offensive against Israel.
Meanwhile, an international organisation, the International Crisis Group, has said that Nigeria needed to package far-reaching reforms on its approach to revenue sharing in order to put an end to the crises in the Niger Delta.
The Brussels-based non-governmental body, in its report also urged oil companies operating in the region to involve credible community-based organisations in their development efforts.
It also enjoined donor countries to pay immediate attention to improving their own development aid.
In the report titled, The Swamps of Insurgency: Nigerias Delta Unrest, the ICG listed poverty, crime and corruption as factors fuelling the crises in the region.
It said, Attempts to secure energy production have too often been heavy handed, alienating large segments of the population and boosting support for militants.
There have been some laudable attempts to initiate development, but many have been poorly executed or hijacked by outsiders and local elite.
The group, therefore, urged the Federal Government to initiate a credible and sustained dialogue on control of resources with Niger Delta civil society groups, including militants and activist leaders.
It added that, The state governments ought to engage more fully with professional non-governmental organisations that demonstrate a capability and willingness to assist communities to take responsibility for their own development.
Energy companies should improve measures to ensure transparency of contracts and other community payments, including for surveillance, development projects and compensation for land use and pollution.