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MADRID - PRODUCTION at Shell's main offshore oilfield in Nigeria has still not returned to full capacity after an attack by militants earlier this month, the head of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant said on Monday.
'At this moment we are not back to full production but we assume it will be a matter of days, not weeks,' chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, one of the oil industry's biggest events.
Militants belonging to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacked the Bonga platform located 120 kilometres offshore on June 19, forcing Shell to shut down production there and raising fears for the security of deep sea facilities in the region.
The attack on Bonga set alarm bells ringing in oil circles as such facilities had been previously considered out of the reach of the armed groups who stage regular raids on installations closer to shore.
It is Shell's main offshore oilfield in Nigeria with a daily output capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas.
Shell started production at Bonga in November 2005. By May 2007, 100 million barrels of oil had already been exported from Bonga.
Shell has a 55 per cent interest in Bonga while US giant Exxon Mobil has 20 per cent, the Italian Agip 12.5 per cent and Elf Petroleum Nigeria, part of the French Total group, 12.5 per cent. -- AFP
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