US embassy cable - 05LAGOS1498

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 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
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 
----------------------------------------- 
 
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