Nigeria: Still a deep-water hotspot

The reserves are there and the desire is there, yet unlocking the potential of Nigeria's hydrocarbons-rich deep-water acreage appears fraught with difficulty, writes Martin Clark

IN SOME ways, the mere technical challenges of working in such an environment pale against the political realities of doing business in west Africa—work on a number of highly prospective blocks has been held up by muddled licensing awards and long-running commercial disputes. Nonetheless, analysts argue that offshore Nigeria is still one of the world's exploration and production hotspots, with a number of projects due to come on stream next year. 'Overall, it is a picture of growth,' says one energy commentator. Already the world's seventh-largest oil exporter, with production in excess of 2m barrels a day (b/d), there is plenty of scope to raise output. Much of the country's estimated 30bn