OilGasArticles - Oil and Gas Industry Articles, News and Blogs - http://www.oilgasarticles.com
Nigeria Oil Production
http://www.oilgasarticles.com/articles/83/1/Nigeria-Oil-Production/Page1.html
OilGasArticles Editor
OilGasArticles features up-to-date, searchable oil and natural gas industry articles, online oil and gas publication service, and a full-text article database covering all areas of the oil and gas industry. 
By OilGasArticles Editor
Published on 04/1/2006
 

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the tenth largest producer of crude oil in the world. In 2005, total Nigerian oil production, including lease condensates, natural gas liquids and refinery gain, averaged 2.6 million bbl/d (of which 2.4 million bbl/d was crude oil). With the help of new projects coming online, the Nigerian government hopes to increase oil production to 3 million bb/d in 2006 and 4 million bbl/d by 2010.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Nigeria had 35.9 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 2006. The Nigerian government plans to expand its proven reserves to 40 billion barrels by 2010. The majority of reserves are found along the country's Niger River Delta, with the majority of oil located in approximately 250 small (i.e., less than 50 million barrels each) fields.

However, at least 200 other fields contain undisclosed reserves. Approximately 65 percent of Nigerian crude oil production is light (35° API or higher) and sweet (low sulfur content), with blends Bonny Light (37° API) and Forcados (31° API) being the most exported.

Nigeria created the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1977. At that time, the NNPC’s primary function was to oversee the regulation of the Nigerian oil industry, with secondary responsibilities for upstream and downstream developments.

In 1988, the Nigerian government divided the NNPC into 12 subsidiary companies in order to better manage the country’s oil industry. The majority of Nigeria’s major oil and gas projects (95 percent) are funded through joint ventures (JVs), with the NNPC as the major shareholder. The largest JV is operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), producing nearly half of Nigeria's crude oil, with average daily output of approximately 1.1 million barrels per day (bbl/d).

Additional foreign companies operating in JVs with the NNPC include ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total and Agip. The remaining funding arrangements are comprised of production sharing contracts (PSCs), which are mostly confined to Nigeria’s deep offshore development program.

Source: Energy Information Administration