Nigeria’s oil production has risen to
1.9m barrels a day (b/d) and should rise to 2.2m by July end if pipeline
repairs are completed, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe
Kachikwu, said yesterday in a Bloomberg television interview monitored from
Beijing, China.
Militant attacks earlier this year reduced Nigeria’s oil production to 1.3m barrels from 2.2m a day but the minister said an ongoing cease-fire with the militant groups had enabled repair works on some pipelines which had returned production volumes.
Nigeria lost its position to Angola as Africa’s top crude
oil producer as a result of the attacks which have ceased after government
announced it was ready to dialogue with the militants.
“There’s a cease-fire that is ongoing already, which is why we are able to repair some pipelines and bring back some volumes,” the minister said.
“There’s a cease-fire that is ongoing already, which is why we are able to repair some pipelines and bring back some volumes,” the minister said.
Kachikwu who is in China to lead a major road show to raise money for oil projects said Nigeria was seeking as much as $50bn in investment for oil projects as it signed a potential deal worth $8.5bn with China North Industries Group Corp.
“Going to places like China, which have huge capacities to put money in the oil sector, is very helpful,” he said.
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