Nigeria to export 68 crude oil cargoes next month

Nigeria has concluded plans to export about 68 cargoes of about 2.04 million barrels per day (totalling 63.1 million barrels) of crude oil in October, the highest level this year.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, which is the benchmark for Nigeria’s blend prices, went up from the $49.20 per barrel it recorded on Tuesday to $50.31 at noon yesterday.

As at press time, WTI Crude for October delivery was trading 30 cents higher at $ 45.70 per barrel while Brent crude went up by 75 cents at $ 50.31 per barrel.

However, the crude oil export programme may have suffered another setback, following the shutdown of a major export trunk line belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

The oil multinational is yet to lift the force majeure on Bonny Light exports, due to a leak discovered on its major trunk lines in Rivers State.

The provisional loading programmes showed that Shell is expected to export seven crude oil cargoes of 221,000 bpd (a total of about 6.85 million barrels) of Bonny Light in October, but the recent development may have jeopardised that arrangement.

Nigeria, which planned to load about 68 cargoes, could still get some increase as the programme for at least three grades (Okwori, Antan and Pennington) were still pending as at press time.

According to the loading programme, Agbami is expected to load eight cargoes with a total of 7.8 million barrels for the month of October; Amenam, three cargoes (2.85 million barrels); Bonga, seven cargoes (6.65 million barrels); Bonny seven cargoes (6.85 million barrels); Brass River, five cargoes (4.11 million barrels); EA, one cargo (0.95 million barrels).

Also, Ebok is planned to export one cargo (0.65 million barrels); Erha, three cargoes (2.99 million barrels); Escravos, six cargoes (5.7 million barrels); Forcados six cargoes (5.7 million barrels); Okono one cargo (0.9 million barrels); Oyo one cargo (0.65 million barrels); Qua 12 cargoes (11.4 million barrels); Usan three cargoes (three million barrels);Yoho two cargoes (1.9 million barrels) and Okwuibome one cargo with a total of 0.3 million barrels in the month.

While confirming the force majeure, the Corporate Media Relations Manager, SPDC, Precious Okolobo, said: “SPDC Joint Venture has declared force majeure on Bonny Light exports effective August 27, 2015, following the shutdown of both the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) and Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL). A leak was reported on the TNP at Oloma in Rivers State, while the NCTL is shut down for the removal of crude theft points,”

According to him, the SPDC is working to repair and reopen the two lines as quickly as possible.

The Trans Niger Pipeline, according to Shell, transports around 180,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the Bonny Export Terminal and is part of the gas liquids evacuation infrastructure, critical for continued domestic power generation and liquefied gas exports.

The TNP had earlier closed on May 12 and reopened on May 16 following a leak caused by attempted theft. The NCTL pipeline, with about 140,000 barrels of oil per day capacity, had also suffered series of attack in recent times.

Shell had claimed that crude oil theft, sabotage and illegal refining are the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta, which caused about 75 per cent of spill incidents from the joint venture pipelines in 2014.

An average of 37,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (bpd) were stolen from the SPDC network in 2014, with an additional 110,000 bpd of production deferred due to illegal interference with pipelines and other illegal activities such as theft of well head equipment.

Besides, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven, while speaking on “Cheap Oil’s Make-Or-Break Moment for Clean Energy,” said that the plunge in oil prices may be good for consumers and the global economy, but it could also encourage greater use of fossil fuels and thereby hurt efforts to make the planet’s energy system more sustainable.

According to him, policy makers from around the world can prevent this by taking advantage of cheaper oil to make meaningful changes in the way we price energy.

Hoeven said that today’s bear market in oil is merely reflecting the changes in supply and demand that were set loose by the bull market of the last several years.