14-05-08 The crisis in the Niger Delta has cut Nigeria's production to under 2 mm bpd and shows no signs of abating, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in a report.
Economic indicators from CBN show that oil production since beginning of 2008 has been on a steady decline, dropping from 2.21 mm bpd early in the year to 1.18 mm bpd in April. There are fears that Nigeria may not meet its 2008 target of 2.45 mm bpd while the report also says output could fall by nearly a third by 2015.

In the past two years, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has been waging a campaign of attacks on both onshore and offshore oil facilities and pipelines in a bid to secure control over the region's oil wealth. President Umaru Yar'Adua said that Angola could upstage Nigeria as sub-Sahara's leading oil producer if the ongoing violence in the Niger Delta, home to the bulk of the country's hydrocarbons, is not halted.
"Unless oil exploration and production are allowed to go on in an uninterrupted andpeaceful atmosphere, the nation may be pushed off her number one position in Africa by Angola," the President warned.