Chevron's Nigerian oil fields days from working

Chevron Corp. said it will take several days to restore full output from Nigerian oil fields connected to a facility that was seized by villagers a week ago. San Ramon-based Chevron shut 42,000 barrels of daily oil production at four fields in Nigeria's Delta state on May 7 after villagers overran the Abiteye flow station, a nexus of onshore pipelines. About 15,000 barrels of Chevron output in other areas remain closed because of other attacks this month. "The youths have left Abiteye flow station on Sunday and we have already started the process of restoring production," Michael Barrett, a Chevron spokesman, said today in an interview from London with Bloomberg News. "It will likely take several days for full production to be restored." Chevron evacuated hundreds of contractors and suspended some offshore drilling work on May 11 because of escalating violence in the oil-rich West African nation that is the fifth-largest source of U.S. crude imports. Chevron has $10.5 billion in new oil and gas projects under way in Nigeria. Armed groups have kidnapped 10 Chevron workers and contractors this month. [MORE]