The nation’s crude oil production has fallen from two
million barrels per day to as low as 1.27 million bpd amid the shutdown of two
major export grades.
The country produced 1.269 million bpd last month, according
to direct communication with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The 13-member oil cartel, in its newly released monthly oil
market report for April, said Nigeria recorded the biggest decline of 157,000
bpd in March.
Few days after Italy’s Eni lifted force majeure on Brass
River crude oil exports from Nigeria in February, the Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said crude oil production had risen to
two million bpd.
But early last month, Shell Nigeria Exploration and
Production Company Limited shut down the Bonga field to enable it to commence
turnaround maintenance on it, a development that has reduced oil production and
exports.
According to SNEPCo, production from the field is expected
to resume at the conclusion of the exercise this month.
The Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading
vessel has the capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million
standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The shutdown of the Bonga field came a year after Shell
declared force majeure on Forcados oil exports after the terminal was shut. It
has yet to be lifted as of the time of filing this report.
The force majeure, a legal clause that allows a company to
stop shipments without breaching contracts, was declared on February 21 after
the Forcados export line was attacked by militants in the Niger Delta a week
before.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, at
the Forcados terminal alone, about 300,000 bpd to 330,000 bpd were shut in since
February 2016 following the force majeure declared by the SPDC.
In October last year, Shell resumed export of crude oil from
the Forcados terminal following repairs, but the production wells were shut-in
again due to the shutdown of the Trans Forcados Pipeline on November 9, 2016 as
a result of sabotage on the 48-inch crude export line.
While Nigeria had consistently been Africa’s largest oil
exporter, its loadings have fallen below those of Angola several times over the
past year as it dealt with militant attacks on oil infrastructure in the Niger
Delta.
The NNPC said in its latest monthly report that the Federal
Government’s engagement with the Niger Delta militants had continued to enhance
production.
The corporation said, “Areas much affected by the militant
activities are the onshore and shallow water assets, where government’s share
is high. Hence, sustained security of onshore and shallow water locations
remains a priority to restore production to peak levels.”
Kachikwu, who disclosed the increase in oil output to two
million bpd in February to the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum
Resources (Upstream), also spoke on the Forcados Oil Terminal.
He informed lawmakers that repair works on the facility were
nearing completion, saying it could be reopened in a matter of weeks.
“In some weeks, we will be able to progress to 2.2 million
bpd, which is the target of the (2017) budget,” he said.
By Femi Asu
