Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said its Nigerian venture is taking advantage of a declared cease-fire to quickly restore 800,000 barrels a day of production lost to earlier militant attacks.

The Soku gas plant, shut down in November 2008 after sabotage, was restarted on Oct. 15, Ann Pickard, African executive vice president for Shell, told journalists in Cape Town today. The company is trying to ramp up production following an “indefinite cease-fire” declared by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main rebel group known as MEND, on Oct. 25.

“The amnesty has been well supported,” she said. “So far so good; not a single militant-related incident” since the cease-fire.

Nigeria vies with Angola as Africa’s biggest oil producer. Attacks by armed groups cut more than 20 percent of Nigeria’s crude exports since 2006. The militants say they were fighting for more control of the delta’s oil revenue, most of which currently goes to the central government.

Five Western oil companies, including Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA, run joint ventures with the government. Nigeria’s oil production was about 1.85 million barrels a day last month, according to Bloomberg data.

Shell, the oldest and biggest oil-industry operator in Nigeria, has capacity to pump 1 million barrels of oil a day, a third of Nigeria’s installed capacity. The company’s operations, spread over 30,000 square kilometers of the Niger River delta, include 90 oil fields, 6,000 kilometers of pipelines, 10 gas plants and two oil export terminals, according to its Web site.

Bringing Back Capacity

Shell has a 30 percent stake in a joint venture with state- owned Nigeria National Petroleum Corp., which controls 55 percent. Total owns 10 percent and Eni holds 5 percent.

“We are trying to bring back as much capacity as we can as quickly as we can,” Pickard said. “We are repairing pipelines.”

MEND’s latest cease-fire followed an Oct. 19 meeting between President Umaru Yar’Adua and Henry Okah, a leader of the group. Yar’Adua declared an amnesty for militants in August, with more than 15,000 fighters laying down their arms, authorities said.

Former militant leaders who met with Defense Minister Godwin Abbe in Abuja yesterday said the government has been slow to address their demands for more local control of oil revenue, state-owned Radio Nigeria reported today. The report cited Chris Ekiyor, one of the militant leaders at the meeting, as saying many former fighters are regretting accepting amnesty.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net; Dulue Mbachu in Lagos at dmbachu@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 10:11 EST