Oil production at the Royal Dutch Shell’s Bonga field is yet to return to full capacity after the recent recent attack on the facility be the dreaded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
Making the disclosure in an interview with newsmen at the Madrid, Spain, venue of the World Petroleum Congress, the company Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said the facility will assume full production in a couple of days.
“At this moment we are not back to full production but we assume it will be a matter of days, not weeks, Jeroen van der Veer said.
The Nigeria�s oil platform located 120 kilometres offshore was on June 19 attacked by MEND, forcing Shell to shut down production of over 200,000 barrel per day.
The attack on Bonga, which had before now considered out of the reach of the armed groups was a pointer that the group could have assess to any oil facility notwithstanding its location.
The Shell’s main offshore oilfield in Nigeria with a daily output capacity of over 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas.
Shell started production at Bonga in November 2005. By May 2007, 100 million barrels of oil had already been exported from Bonga.
Shell has a 55 percent interest in Bonga while US giant Exxon Mobil has 20 percent, Italy’s Agip 12.5 percent and Elf Petroleum Nigeria, part of the French Total group, 12.5 percent.
Meanwhile president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Chakib Khelil, has stated that the group had concerns that future demand for oil might not be strong enough to justify investment to boost oil production.
The concern we have is about the security of demand,” Khelil, who is also Algeria �s Energy Minister, told delegates at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Spain .
He expressed uncertainties about making huge investments in infrastructure to increase output from Opec member countries, which pump about 40 percent of world oil.
Benchmark oil prices hit record high levels above $143 a barrel yesterday amid growing public anger at the rising cost of fuel worldwide and concern about the impact on inflation and economic growth.
Consumer countries are clamouring for higher output from OPEC and keen to see investments in future capacity to deflate the market, but the remarks from Khelil underline the resistance in many oil producing countries.
The uncertainty about future demand arises from increased investment in alternative sources of energy, the impact of energy conservation, falling economic growth and the stepped-up search for non-OPEC oil reserves.
Each of these factors could reduce future demand for oil from Opec and the cartel needs to see “a credibility of future demand,” Khelil said, reiterating that financial market turmoil, which has led to projections of lower global growth and a possible recession in the US , had already had an impact on investment in oil production and refining.