Nigeria’s oil production is set to rise by 350,000 barrels per day as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) begins operations at the Forcados Terminal.
NNPCL source said the implication of this is that the the company is getting very close to the August target of 1.8 million barrel per day oil projection target.
Also, a SHELL spokesman had told Reuters that the Nigeria’s Forcados grade of crude oil resumed on Sunday, a month after loadings of the medium sweet grade were suspended because of a potential leak at the export terminal.
Exports from Forcados which was scheduled to ship about 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, were halted on the evening of July 12 due to observed leaks on a single buoy mooring where oil was being loaded onto a vessel.
A single buoy mooring is essentially a floating loading facility, allowing huge tankers to dock offshore and discharge cargoes.
An NNPCL source said the injections into the terminal were reduced following the report, but that no force majeure was announced.
The source said that the cause of the suspension was identified by a collaborative investigation involving the NNPCL Upstream Unit, SPDC, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and representatives of relevant stakeholders as well as government agencies.
The disruption of Forcados loadings, according to the report, led to the deferment of about 250 000 barrels day production thus responsible for Nigeria’s reduction in OPEC crude oil output in July.
The 180,000 barrel per day pipeline is one of two conduits to export Bonny Light crude.
The outage of the TNP, it was learnt led to deferment of over 120,000 barrel per day production from Nigeria.
The total crude oil production deferments from both Bonny and Forcados terminals are aid to be over 350, 000 barrels per day.
The suspension of Forcados loadings contributed to Nigeria becoming the second-biggest contributor to the drop in OPEC crude oil output in July, according to a Reuters survey.
