Nigerian oil output will be affected by major outages for at least the next 12 months after a wave of pipeline attacks, according to a recent report published by PGI Intelligence
The document highlighted that a new generation of militants in the Niger Delta, The Niger Delta Avengers, could create long-term implications for Nigeria's oil and gas industry. It also noted that pipeline attacks are likely to continue for the short to medium term.
The attacks on pipeline infrastructure in the Niger Delta begun at the start of 2016 and has had a negative impact on Nigeria's crude output. Nigeria's oil minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, reported that production had dropped 40 per cent from 2.2mn barrels per day to 1.4mn bpd, the lowest level since the mid-1990s. One of the biggest attacks was the bombing of the Forcados Terminal subsea crude pipeline in February, which resulted in reported losses of 200,000-300,000bpd.
The report concluded that there is a strong likelihood that the high frequency of attacks on oil infrastructure will result in low oil output over most of 2016.
