Nigeria’s oil production in the onshore and shallow waters has reduced by 70%, due to renewed attacks by militant groups in the Niger Delta region since the beginning of this year.

According to operators in this sector, the country is currently faced with zero production and zero revenue from these sources.

This, they said at the ongoing Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAIC) organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council.

The operators added that the recent vandalism and total destruction of oil and gas facilities have further reduced Nigeria’s oil and gas production, power generation ability, reduced the inflow of revenue, and increased the cost of environmental remediation and provision of secondary health care facility replacement in the country.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum, Austin Avuru, said the ongoing battle against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region have not been successful.

He said country continues to lose huge revenue due to the bombing of oil pipelines by militants. The onshore and shallow waters oil production, which is more than 200,000 barrels of oil and over 900 million cubic feet of gas production per day, is currently been threatened by militancy.

The CEO added that he was confident that the country has the capacity to produce up to 1.2 million barrels daily by 2020, if the government had given the necessary support to operators in the industry.

While Avuru urged the Federal Government to efficiently check the activities of militants and pipelines vandals in the Niger Delta region, others advise the Federal Government to ensure transparency in oil and gas transactions, Guardian news reports.

Anita Fatunji