Stakeholders Envision Further Drop In Oil Production

[Shola Sholaz]

Stakeholders in Nigeria's oil and gas industry predict that the country may suffer even lower crude output than stated in last week's report by the International Energy Agency, IEA, that Nigeria's crude oil output declined to a six-month low to 1.96 million barrels per day, mbd contrary to budget benchmark of 2.567mbd.
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The immediate past president of the National Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, Mr. Afe Mayowa, argued that the drop in oil production did not come as a surprise, as many stakeholders had showed anxiety in the beginning of 2013 when government made the 2.567mbd benchmark.
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For them, it was an ambitious projection. "I am not surprised because all the attendant problems in the Niger Delta are still there – community issues, vandalism, PIB. The PIB will not be passed in the life of this administration because those who are supposed to make it come to light are more concerned about their personal gains rather than national interest.