By Jacinta Moran on July 13, 2010 11:41 AM

The success of oil producing companies in Nigeria in ramping up production over the past year can be seen in the rise in the country's crude exports to the US, which averaged 945,000 b/d in the first quarter of this year compared with just 606,000 b/d in the same quarter of 2009.

Nigeria's crude production has been steadily rising since an amnesty last year brought a sustained period of peace to the oil-producing Niger Delta region, allowing foreign oil companies to repair damaged oil infrastructure and increase production.


The US Energy Information Administration, statistics arm of the Department of Energy, estimates that Nigerian crude output averaged 2.03 million b/d in the first quarter of this year, the same level as in 2008, and slightly higher than 2009's 1.8 million b/d, as security in the Delta continues to improve.

In 2009, Nigeria exported 771,000 b/d of crude -- more than 40% of its production -- to the US, making Nigeria its fifth largest foreign oil supplier for the year.

The decline in US imports of Nigerian crude from earlier years, when volumes regularly averaged more than 1 million b/d -- can be attributed in part to the supply volatility caused by the unrest in the Niger Delta which has led some US refiners to stop buying Nigerian crudes, says the EIA.

Despite shut-in production, Nigerian trade patterns with the country's other importers appear to have remained stable over the past year, most of which can be attributed to capacity additions combined with slightly decreasing domestic consumption and declining world demand, the EIA says.

Exports could be even higher later this year as shut-in crude streams are brought back on line, the agency adds.

The 100,000 b/d EA offshore field operated by Shell resumed production in the first week of June after a six-week closure, though the company said the force majeure remains in place. Forcados output is also slowly recovering as repairs are made to long-damaged infrastructure. Output of ExxonMobil's Qua Iboe grade also appears set to rise, based on export allocations for the next several months.

The government's 2009 amnesty, cash payouts to armed militants, and a proposal to give oil-producing communities a 10% stake in government oil ventures bought some respite from militant attacks in the Delta

But the program has failed to address the government corruption and environmental degradation that underlie the violence and discontent in the Delta.

So while Nigerian crude production may have staged a recovery from the lows seen in the past couple of years, it remains to be seen whether the country will be able to boost output much more in the short term.