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ABUJA, April 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's NNPC and joint venture partner Newcross Exploration and Production have resumed output at the Awoba oilfield that ceased operations in February 2022 due to oil theft that curbed exports, the state oil company said on Tuesday.
Output has averaged 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) since operations restarted on April 13 and is expected to rise to 12,000 bpd within a month, NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye said in a statement.
The Awoba field, which can pump up to 40,000 bpd, is located on oil mining lease (OML) 24, which was previously operated by oil major Shell but was sold to Newcross in 2014.
Newcross is one of a group of Nigerian producers that took over assets from Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron and Eni in a divestment programme more than a decade ago.
Awoba is also expected to boost gas supply to power plants and other gas-based industries, Soneye said.
Africa's top oil producer, Nigeria pumps about 1.47 million bpd and is trying to boost output from fields sold to local producers by oil majors that have been fleeing from assets hampered by theft, sabotage and pipeline vandalism.
NNPC's oil output has risen by 60,000 bpd thanks to a string of successes across its joint venture portfolio with local producers. Recent achievements include the start of the Madu field on OML 83 and the restart of OMLs 29 and 18 in late 2023, Soneye said.
