The Nigerian navy closed 1,500 oil wells in an operation carried out in the Niger Delta in the country's southeast over the last two months, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) announced Wednesday.
Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, the naval commanding officer in charge of the operation, said the illegal oil wells have been shut down, NAN reported.
Many illegal oil wells were opened in this marshland area, Dewu said, adding that operations in the region would continue.
On average, 445,000 barrels of oil per day have been extracted from the wells in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt. However, due to technical problems and inadequate maintenance, oil refineries in the area can only produce up to half of their capable capacities.
Due to armed attacks in the Niger Delta, oil production fell short of the mark in 2016 when barrels of oil production per day were estimated at 2.2 million but the actual production recorded was 1 million barrels of oil.
Reporting by Gokhan Kavak in Abuja, Nigeria
Writing by Oyku Zumrutdal
Anadolu Agency
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