18-07-05 Nigerian oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, rose by 150,000 bpd to 2.45 mm bpd in May. Output for April this year was revised down to 2.30 mm bpd from 2.36 mm bpd reported earlier, the Central Bank said in its monthly economic report.
Total oil production for May stood at 75.95 mm barrels compared with 69 mm barrels in the previous month, the report said, without giving a reason for the sharp rise. The Central Bank's production estimates are often substantially revised in subsequent reports.

Nigerian oil output is expected to rise sharply in the final quarter of 2005 when the 225,000 bpd Bonga field is expected to come on stream.
The figure for May indicates that the world's eighth largest exporter pumped slightly more than its 2.265 mm bpd OPEC quota. About 100,000 bpd of condensates and natural gas liquids are not counted under OPEC’s definition of crude oil. Nigeria's OPEC quota rose to 2.306 mm bpd in July, in line with a decision taken at the cartel's 15 June meeting. OPEC ministers are currently engaged in talks on raising the limits further to cool record high prices.

Meanwhile, gas utilisation has received a boost as Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) has hooked three more industrial customers to its gas distribution grid. The customers are SIL Chemicals, Purechem Industries and Lifecare Ventures, all based in the Ota industrial area of Ogun State.
A statement by SNG said that the tying-in of these customers to natural gas supply, which was in fulfilment of its mission of driving economic growth through the monetisation of Nigeria's rich gas resource, was completed in what has been described as one of the fastest customer connection projects in the Nigeria's mid-downstream gas industry.

Speaking on the achievement, Shell Nigeria Gas' Chief Operating Officer, Mr Bayo Opadere, said the connection of these three companies is the achievement of another part of the company's plan of bringing a cheaper, cleaner, more reliable and cost-effective energy source to the doorsteps of the Nigerian industrial sector.
"It is our own contribution towards stimulating industrial growth, development and employment in Ogun and Abia States where we presently operate and in Nigeria as a whole," said Opadare.

On the safety and environmental friendliness of natural gas, Opadere assured that Shell Companies in Nigeria have been supplying gas in the country since the 1960s without any safety incidents.
"Moreover, Shell Gas and Power, the bigger body to which his company belongs, operates in all continents with high safety standards as the global leader in the various aspects of the natural gas business."

It would be recalled that Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) was awarded the ISO 14001 certification in 2004 by the International Standard Organisation in attestation of the Company's Environmental Safety and Management System, after a stringent auditing, testing, inspection exercise. Shell Nigeria Gas is the only gas distribution company in Nigeria to be so certified.
More industries are relocating to the Agbara/Ota industrial axis of Ogun State and Aba in Abia States where Shell Nigeria Gas has been successfully operating and meeting industries' energy needs for the development of Nigeria's Industrial base.