Nigeria’s April crude oil exports are on track to drop by just over 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April from the previous month, according to loading programmes compiled by Reuters on Tuesday.
The exports of 1.54 million bpd, on 50 cargoes, are down from a revised March programme that included 1.65 million bpd on 56 cargoes.
The biggest month-on-month decline was in Qua Iboe, Nigeria’s largest oil stream.
Qua Iboe exports in March were revised higher to 11 cargoes, four more than the 7 planned to load in April, due to loading delays that have pushed February exports back.
Field operator Exxon Mobil has reissued the export programme for Qua Iboe several times this year, though the reason for the problems was
not immediately clear.
The company dealt with strike action in late December that impacted its production, and also had to deal with the closure of the main pipeline that exports the oil.
Agbami, Amenam, Brass River and Erha were also set to load fewer cargoes in April, despite a respite in militant attacks in the Delta region and the lifting by ENI of force majeure on Brass River.
Antan, which has field maintenance, will not export any cargoes in April.
Exports of Bonga were set to climb to 4 cargoes, from just one in March, as operator Shell completed field maintenance, traders said.
There were also more cargoes of Bonny Light, Escravos, Owkwori and Usan.
April’s exports will also include four cargoes of Akpo condensate, for a total of 133,000 bpd, the same total as March but slightly higher on a bpd basis due to the shorter month in April.
Grade April Barrels revised Barrels
cargoes per day March per day
cargoes
Abo 1 23,000 1 23,000
Agbami 7 228,000 8 252,000
Amenam 2 63,000 3 92,000
Antan*** 0 0 1 31,000
Bonga*** 4 127,000 1 31,000
Bonny Light 8 232,000 7 221,000
Brass River 4 108,000 6 120,000
EA 1 32,000 1 31,000
Ebok*
Erha 4 133,000 5 161,000
Escravos 6 190,000 6 184,000
Forcados** 0 0 0 0
Okono 1 29,000
Okwori 1 22,000 0 0
Oyo*
Pennington 0 0 1 29,000
Qua Iboe 7 222,000 11 337,000
Usan 4 133,000 3 97,000
Yoho 1 32,000 1 10,000
Total 50 1.54 mln 56 1.65 mln
