U.S. oil gains force Nigeria elsewhere

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HOUSTON, May 7 (UPI) -- Gains in U.S. oil production mean Nigerian crude oil producers have to look to other export markets, the director of a Nigerian national oil company said.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said advances in extraction technology will push oil production to more than 7 million barrels per day by the end of the decade. In February, the last date for which data are available, the EIA said imports of Nigerian crude oil into the U.S. market declined to the lowest level since 1985.

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Managing Director Andrew Yakubu told an offshore energy conference in Houston that crude oil producers have to look elsewhere because of U.S. oil production gains.

"The good news is that that there is still a huge capacity in Asia," he was quoted by the Platts news service as saying.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reported in April that China was expected to account for most of the global gains in oil demand.

Nigeria lost an estimated 250,000 bpd because of sabotage and militancy. Yakubu said theft was down, however, because of a general amnesty program launched in 2009.