when was crude oil first discovered in nigeria
15 January 1956
title: Petroleum industry in Nigeria text: Petroleum industry in Nigeria Nigeria is the largest oil and gas producer in Africa. Crude oil from the delta basin comes in two types: light, and comparatively heavy – the lighter around 36 gravity and the heavier, 20–25 gravity. Both types are paraffinic and low in sulfur. The history of oil exploration in Nigeria dates back to 1907 when Nigerian Bitumen Corporation conducted exploratory work in the country, at the onset of World War I the firm's operation were stopped. Thereafter, licenses were given to D'Arcy Exploration Company and Whitehall Petroleum but neither company found oil of commercial value and title: Petroleum industry in Nigeria text: efforts by the federal government for infrastructure development. Indicted corrupt leaders are also cheered by the Niger Delta people. Petroleum industry in Nigeria Nigeria is the largest oil and gas producer in Africa. Crude oil from the delta basin comes in two types: light, and comparatively heavy – the lighter around 36 gravity and the heavier, 20–25 gravity. Both types are paraffinic and low in sulfur. The history of oil exploration in Nigeria dates back to 1907 when Nigerian Bitumen Corporation conducted exploratory work in the country, at the onset of World War I the firm's operation were stopped. Thereafter, title: Petroleum industry in Nigeria text: to the Akata find, the company had spent around 6 million pounds in exploratory activities in the country. Shell-BP in the pursuit of commercially available petroleum found oil in Oloibiri, Nigeria in 1956. Other important oil wells discovered during the period were Afam and Bomu in Ogoni territory. Production of crude oil began in 1957 and in 1960, a total of 847,000 tonnes of crude oil was exported. Towards the end of the 1950s, non-British firms were granted license to explore for oil: Mobil in 1955, Tenneco in 1960, Gulf Oil and later Chevron in 1961, Agip in 1962, and title: Oloibiri text: production of 5,000 barrels of oil per day (which would later become as much as 2,000,000), Nigeria became the 6th largest oil producer on the chart of the Organisation of petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC. Oloibiri well was the first commercial oil well in Nigeria. Oloibiri Oilfield was the first commercial oil field in Nigeria as well as West Africa. Nigeria exported its first crude oil in February 1958 from the Oloibiri oil field. Nigeria's first crude oil export came from Oloibiri field in February 1958. Nigeria's first crude oil pipeline was laid from Oloibiri oil field to Port Harcourt on title: Oil reserves in Nigeria text: exploratory well called OBO-1 and news reports came out that they had discovered over a thousand million barrels of oil in block 1 alone. The news was reported on CNN and AP. Oil reserves in Nigeria Although Libya has more reserves, there were of proven oil reserves in Nigeria as of 2011, ranking the country as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world, averaging in 2006. At current rates this would be 45 years of supply if no new oil was found. Pipeline vandalism, kidnappings, and militant takeover of oil facilities have reduced production,