(Ecofin Agency) - Efforts by Nigerian government to curb attacks on oil facilities by militants in the Niger Delta region have not yet been able to boost the country’s oil output to the level it is hoping to achieve.

Peace process by the government has only been able to reduce the frequency of attacks in the region but the country’s third largest export terminal, Forcados, is still closed and shipments have been halted at many other terminals. Meanwhile, Qua Iboe, the nation’s largest crude stream is still in operation but at a reduced capacity.

“Bringing the Forcados loading terminal back into action is key for Nigeria’s exports. If the government follows through on the peace process, then Nigeria could become a drag on OPEC’s push to rebalance the market and will likely slow the process down,” Charles Swabey, an oil and gas analyst at BMI Research, said.

Data compiled by Bloomberg has shown that even though the nation’s output recovered to 1.64 million barrels last month from the 1.5 million in December, it is still below the 2015 average of 1.99 million bpd.

Let’s recall that Nigeria and Libya were exempted from a pact by OPEC and non-OPEC producers in December to cut production by almost 4%. So, while this is bad news for the country, experts think it is a good development for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as it will help boost oil prices.

Anita Fatunji