Nigeria’s contribution to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is expected to increase with the resumption of the Forcados grade of crude oil Sunday.
The resumption is coming roughly a month after loadings of the medium sweet grade were suspended because of a potential leak at the export terminal.
Sources had told Reuters that exports of the grade, which was scheduled to ship 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, were halted on the evening of July 12 after workers saw fumes near a single buoy mooring where oil was being loaded onto a vessel.
A single buoy mooring is essentially a floating loading facility that allows large tankers to moor offshore to discharge cargoes.
Shell confirmed that injections into the terminal had been curtailed after the report, though no force majeure was declared.
The Shell said the cause of the suspension would be determined by a joint investigation between company and community representatives in tandem with government agencies.
The suspension of Forcados loadings contributed to Nigeria becoming the second-biggest contributor to the drop in OPEC crude oil output in July, a Reuters survey showed.
This follows observation by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC that the country’s crude oil production dropped by 12.56 per cent in July to 1.29 million barrels daily from 1.48 million barrels daily in June.
According to the NUPRC, one of the reasons for the decline was the temporary shutdown of the Forcados terminal, which Shell, the operator, said in mid-July on suspicions of a leak.
The Forcados sees loadings of an average of 220,000 barrels daily but on July 12 workers in the area saw fumes near a vessel that was being loaded with crude. The repairs work on the terminal was expected to be completed by the end of the first week of August but as of the middle of this week, Forcados remained shutdown.
Earlier this year, the Commission warned that Nigeria is producing one million bpd of crude less than it has the capacity to produce.
The agency cited a lack of investments, a shortage of funding sources because of the energy transition, and insecurity among the factors driving the situation.
“Currently, Nigeria has the technical allowable capacity to produce about 2.5 million barrels of oil per day.
However, arising from the highlighted challenges, our current production hovers around 1.5 million barrels of oil and condensate per day,” the chief executive of the body said in May.
To remedy matters, Nigeria earlier this month announced the pending launch of a roadshow to pitch upstream investments in the country.
“Whereas the global imperatives for energy transition is clear and justified, the need for Africa’s energy security, economic development and prosperity cannot be overemphasised,” the Nigerian regulator, which is organizing the roadshow, said.
According to a senior Petroleum Ministry official, Nigeria is looking to boost its oil production to 1.7 million barrels daily by November this year.
