<article><p class="lead">Nigeria's minister of state for oil Timipre Sylva has resigned, according to a ministry source. The resignation has not yet been made public.</p><p>Sylva's responsibilities are likely to be covered by the ministry's permanent secretary Gabriel Aduda until a permanent replacement is chosen, the source said. </p><p>Sylva has resigned after just over three and a half years in the job. He was appointed in August 2019 at a time when Nigeria's oil sector was facing formidable challenges, among them faltering earnings and upstream spending, chronic refining shortages, and passing a long-delayed petroleum bill.</p><p>A former governor of oil producing Bayelsa state in the Niger delta, Sylva helped drive through the petroleum bill's <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2245504">passage into law</a> in 2021, and oversaw its implementation, which has in turn helped <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2360665">restore interest</a> in Nigeria's upstream from international oil firms.</p><p>But he also oversaw a fall in the country's oil production to its lowest levels for decades, owing to a combination of crude theft and vandalism. In August, Nigerian output fell to 1.1mn b/d, surrendering its crown as west Africa's largest producer to Angola. Production has since recovered, and was 1.4mn b/d in February.</p><p class="bylines">By Nader Itayim</p></article>
