Two heavy oil and gas explorers in Nigeria, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, say they recorded huge drops in production from their joint venture assets in the first quarter of this year.
Mobil’s joint venture output dropped from 11 million barrels in January last year to 6.2 million barrels in March this year as shown by data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The oil major, which remains the biggest producer onshore in Nigeria, posted a 36 per cent decline in production in the first three months of this year.
Similarly, the Shell saw its Joint Venture production dropped from 5 million barrels in January last year to about 3 million barrels in March this year.
Chevron also witnessed production decline. Operational problems and production shut-in were reasons for declines.
