The potential impact of Arik’s grounding on oil workers requires careful consideration.

The planned increase in Nigeria’s daily oil production may face a potential setback of 130,000 barrels due to the grounding of Arik Air.

Reliable sources have indicated that Arik Air had a contractual agreement with one of the international oil companies in Nigeria to transport oil workers to an oil field located in Osubi, Delta State. This particular oil field has an average daily production of 130,000 barrels.

However, due to the grounding of Arik Air, it is anticipated that the transportation of oil workers to the field will be disrupted, potentially impacting oil production.

The excursions were suddenly interrupted on Tuesday as a result of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency grounding an aircraft owned by Arik due to a court order initiated by the airline's creditor and billionaire businessman, Arthur Eze.

Eze had taken legal action against the founder of Arik Air, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, for failing to pay him $2.5m.

According to NAMA's spokesperson, Abdullahi Musa, the agency announced on Tuesday that the situation arose as a result of a legal action taken by the FCT High Court on July 19, 2024, which included seizing Arik's aircraft to guarantee the debt.

“We have decided to comply with the effect of the Supreme Court order, by grounding the aircraft (the subject of dispute) so that they are not taken out of the jurisdiction of the court or tampered with in a way as to frustrate the courts,” the statement read partly.

Arik previously transported the IOC’s personnel to the Osubi oil field using its Q-400 aircraft, which is currently out of service. As of June, Nigeria's daily oil output stood at 1.25 million barrels.

The Federal Government is actively working to boost production, particularly with local refineries approaching completion. Nevertheless, this initiative may be hindered by the inactivity at the Osubi oil field.