Nigeria Oil

Nigerian Oil Output Could Decline 30 Percent by 2015, FT Says
2008-04-16 20:13 (New York)

By Khaleeq Ahmed
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, could lose 30 percent of its oil output by 2015 due to funding problems, the Financial Times reported, citing a government report.

The report, written by President Umaru Yar'Adua's energyadvisers, says the government needs to find ways to finance the oil industry, including through increased investment in ventures with foreign oil firms, the FT said. Late last year, ShellPetroleum Development Co., the Nigerian unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, said in an internal memo that funding problems could put at risk its joint venture with the Nigerian government, the newspaper reported.

The Nigerian government had been unable to pay its share of joint-venture costs to companies like Shell, Chevron Corp., and Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the reasons hindering an increase in output, the newspaper said.

The Nigerian government and Shell declined to comment, the FT said.

For related news: {TNI NIGERIA OILPROD } for stories on
Nigeria's oil output.

--Editors: Elizabeth Wollman, Colin Keatinge

To contact the reporter on this story:
Khaleeq Ahmed in San Francisco at +1-650-745-5599 or
kkhan8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wollman at +1-415-617-7138 or
ewollman@bloomberg.net

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