NIGERIAN OIL PRODUCTION SUFFERS MINIMAL LOSSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 001498

SIPDIS

STATE PASS DOE FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAY
TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENENDER
COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS
STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART
STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER
STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2015
TAGS: EPET EINV PGOV ASEC NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN OIL PRODUCTION SUFFERS MINIMAL LOSSES
DURING RECENT DISTURBANCES

REF: ABUJA 1798

Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for Reasons 1.4 (D & E)

Port Harcourt Disturbances Cause Minimal
Disruption to Nigerian Oil Production
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1. (SBU) Recent disturbances in Rivers States, arising
from the London arrest of Bayelsa State Governor and the
arrest of Ijaw militant leader Dokubu Asari, have had a
minimal impact on Nigerian oil production thus far.
Chevron is the only major oil producer whose production has
been affected. Having regained over the weekend some of
the production lost last week, their current production
drop is about 9,000 barrels/day. Nigeria currently exports
approximately 2.4 million barrels/day.

Chevron Resumes Production at Robert Kiri;
Idama Remains Shut In
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2. (C) On September 26, Chevron Nigeria confirmed only
the Idama flow station remained evacuated and offline;
Idama produces about 9,000 barrels/day. (Note: Idama is the
closest Chevron facility to Buguma, the hometown of Niger
Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF) leader Dokubu Asari.)
The Robert Kiri flow station, which produces about 15,000
barrels a daily, returned to service over the weekend with
essential staff in place. Contrary to earlier reports we
received from the oil company, Chevron clarified that it
did not fully shut down the Inda flow station last week.
Chevron is discussing plans to return its full complement
of expatriate and non-essential staff back into the field,
but has not reached a decision on their return as of yet.

Shell, ExxonMobil Production Not Affected
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3. (C) Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC)
reports their production was unaffected, and disavows press
reports of various flow stations being shut down. SPDC
produces about a million barrels/day, nearly half of
Nigeria's production. ExxonMobil production facilities are
located approximately 120 kilometers from Port Harcourt at
Eket, Akwa Ibom State, and were not affected by the recent
events. ConocoPhillips reports their joint venture
operations with AGIP (ENI) have not been affected by recent
disturbances. Total Nigeria also reports their production
was unaffected.

Comment
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4. (C) The impact of last week's frictions has been
minimal, and the Niger Delta has been quiet the past few
days. The major oil companies have shown resilience in
maintaining production in the face of the disturbances and
the resultant diminution in the security environment that
occurred last week. The companies also demonstrated they
are often able to maintain production for some time with
only skeletal staffing, even after expatriate management
personnel have been evacuated. More significant disruptions
are unlikely, unless further events trigger a
renewal of the crisis or spread the crisis to other regions.
BROWNE