LAGOS (Reuters) - The Agbami offshore oilfield in Nigeria operated by Chevron is on track to produce its first oil in June, the U.S. energy giant said on Monday.

The massive field located 70 miles (113 km) offshore, is expected to reach peak output of 250,000 barrels per day within a year of start-up.
“For Agbami, work is progressing, and with good weather conditions, we will be within the expected range for first oil,” a company spokeswoman said in an e-mail to Reuters. She did not give a specific start-up date.
Top Chevron officials had said in February that Agbami was expected to come online in June, without specifying a date.
The field is crucial to Nigeria’s efforts to ramp up output and offset the loss of production from militant attacks and sabotage of oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
About a fifth of Nigeria’s oil output has been shut in since early 2006 after ethnic militants launched a violent campaign against the oil industry to press for greater control of the region's natural resources.
Agbami and Total’s Akpo are the only major offshore oilfields expected to come online this year, adding 500,000 bpd to the output of Africa’s top producer.