The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has revealed that oil production in Nigeria has increased to about 1.9 million bpd, from 1.6 million bpd, as a result of the maintenance works taking place in the Niger Delta region.

According to NNPC spokesman, Garba Deen Muhammad, oil production rose to around 1.9 million bpd since last week.“Production has increased because we are making repairs to damaged pipelines and installations. And we have not had any major attacks in recent times,” he said.

A militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, has claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks on oil and gas installations, saying that they want a bigger share of Nigeria’s oil wealth to go to the Delta region.Due to this, Nigeria has seen its production drop from 2.2 million bpd at the beginning of 2016 to 1.6 million bpd in June, making the country lose its position as Africa’s top oil producer.

A week ago, the petroleum ministry Ibe Kachikwu (photo) announced that the government had agreed to a one-month ceasefire with the militants, but the Avengers had refused the treaty, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji