Although Libya has more reserves, there were 37.2 billion barrels (5.91×10^9 m3) of proven oil reserves in Nigeria as of 2011, ranking the country as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world, averaging 2.28 million barrels per day (362×10^3 m3/d) in 2006.
Pipeline vandalism, kidnappings, and militant takeover of oil facilities have reduced production, which could be increased to 3 million barrels per day (480×10^3 m3/d) in the absence of such problems.
Nigeria's foreign exchange is heavily dependent on the oil sector, which accounts for a majority of its export revenues.
Nigeria and Sao Tome share this area, called the Joint Development Zone, or JDZ.
In 2006, Chevron drilled an exploratory well called OBO-1 and news reports came out that they had discovered over a thousand million barrels of oil in block 1 alone[citation needed].