![\"history](\"https:\/\/nigerianfinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/locations-of-crude-oil-in-nigeria.png\")
<\/p>\nPrior to the discovery of oil in 1956, the Nigerian Bitumen Corporation was involved in conducting exploratory work as far back as 1907.<\/p>\n
But when the World War 1 commenced, the firm had to stop operations. Following the end of the war, licences were given to the D’Arcy Exploration Company and Whitehall Petroleum but these companies were unable to find oil of commercial value, subsequently, they returned their licenses in 1923.<\/p>\n
Ten year later, Shell D’arcy Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a consortium of Shell and British Petroleum (then known as Anglo-Iranian) began exploratory work following the issue of a new license covering 920,000 square kilometres (357,000 square miles).<\/p>\n
Drilling activities commenced in 1951 with the first test well drilled in Owerri area and oil was discovered in non-commercial quantities at Akata, near Eket in 1953.<\/p>\n
The company spent over 6 million pounds prior to this discovery but they remain unrelenting in their search for crude of commercial quantity.<\/p>\n
Finally, the company discovered commercially available oil in Oloibiri, Nigeria which led to many more discoveries over the last 60 years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Initially, Shell-BP was appointed as the sole concessionaire of oil exploration in the country.<\/p>\n
But by 1960, other oil companies had been given exploratory rights in the onshore and offshore areas adjoining the Niger Delta were extended to other foreign companies.<\/p>\n
Shell made another giant stride in 1965 when the company discovered the EA field in the shallow waters of the southeastern part of Warri.<\/p>\n
After the Biafran war in 1970, there was a rise in oil prices and the country was able to reap the instant riches from its oil production and a year later, Nigeria joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).<\/p>\n
In 1977, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) was established as a state owned and controlled company involved in the upstream and downstream oil sectors.<\/p>\n
During the late sixties and early seventies, Nigeria was producing over 2 million barrels of crude oil per day and by 2010, the figured had increase to 4million barrels per day.<\/p>\n
Currently, Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the production of petroleum in the country plays a dominant role in the economy with over 90% of gross earnings coming from crude oil.<\/p>\n
In 2010, Nigeria provided about 10% of overall U.S. oil imports and ranked as the fifth-largest source for oil imports in the U.S. However, Nigeria ceased exports to the US in July 2014 because of the impact of shale production in America; India is now the largest consumer of Nigerian oil. Other countries that buy Nigeria\u2019s oil include UK, Germany and China.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are six petroleum exportation terminals in the country. Shell owns two, while Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, and Agip own one each. Shell also owns the Forcados Terminal, which is capable of storing 13 million barrels (2,100,000 m3) of crude oil in conjunction with the nearby Bonny Terminal.<\/p>\n
Mobil operates primarily out of the Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom State, while Chevron owns the Escravos Terminal located in Delta State and has a storage capacity of 3.6 million barrels (570,000 m3).<\/p>\n
Agip operates the Brass Terminal in Brass, a town 113 kilometres (70 miles) southwest of Port Harcourt and has a storage capacity of 3,558,000 barrels (565,700 m3). Texaco operates the Pennington Terminal.<\/p>\n
Overall, we\u2019ve highlighted the major events in the history of crude oil in the country below:<\/p>\n
Prior to the discovery of oil in 1956, the Nigerian Bitumen Corporation was involved in conducting exploratory work as far … <\/p>\n