Nigeria’s active oil rigs drop by 18% to 28

The number of active oil rigs in the country fell by 17.6 per cent to 28 in November, as global oil benchmark, Brent crude, fell to its lowest level this year.

Brent plunged below the $60 per barrel mark in November from a four-year high of $86.74 per barrel in early October.

Data obtained from Baker Hughes Incorporated and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday showed that the Nigeria’s rig count stood at 34 in October.

The country and Kuwait recorded the biggest decline in the number of rigs among its peers in the OPEC in November.

Rig count dropped to 44 from 50 in Kuwait; fell to 152 from 155 in Saudi Arabia; declined to 67 from 69 in Venezuela, and dipped to 57 from 58 in the United Arab Emirates.

Ecuador saw a rise in its rig count to 13 in November from 8, while that of Angola and Iraq increased by one to five and 61 respectively.

Rig count is largely a reflection of the level of exploration, development and production activities occurring in the oil and gas sector.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, International Energy Services Limited, Dr Diran Fawibe, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, noted that the appetite for exploration had been very low in Nigeria since 2014 when the crisis in the global oil and gas industry started.

The slump in oil prices, which started in mid-June 2014, forced many companies operating in the Nigerian oil industry to slash their capital budgets and suspend some projects, resulting in a drop in the number of rigs.

Lamenting the delay in the passage of Petroleum Industry Bill, Fawibe said “the unpredictability of the direction the government is going regarding the oil and gas industry” had affected investments.