Oil Industry Headlines: Week of December 14
Nigeria’s most influential militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has issued a plea to competing factions. “We call on all genuine militant groups to unite and cripple the oil industry in Nigeria once and for all and stand strong to face a common enemy. The time has come for all breakaway factions to come together and wage war of a different kind in 2008,” said MEND in an email sent to reporters. Although Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua contends that peace talks are continuing with militant groups, violence has been steadily rising in the region for the past eight months. According to the IEA’s most recent Oil Market Report, Iraq’s Oil Minister recently “announced that Iraq aims to raise production capacity to 3 mb/d by the end of 2008, largely via improved recovery at existing fields. However, the country’s fledgling hydrocarbon law has still to be approved by parliament.” This ambitious goal seems more and more likely in light of the improved security situation throughout Iraq, which has recently allowed the country to exceed pre-war production levels. However, the report warns that “though the increase has been dramatic, the market continues to recognize the propensity for ongoing security issues and output volatility.”Published Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm and filed under Industry News.