Nigeria is set to witness oil exports rise and may hit highest in seven months in February as a result of supply of several larger grades coming back online after a series of pipeline outages in the last couple of months.
According to data compiled from Bloomberg terminal,loadings of Nigerian crude will rise to 1.92 million bpd in February from 1.86 million bpd recorded in January 2018.Data from the terminal also revealed that February crude oil loading will be the largest program since July last year of 1.99 million bpd.
Further breakdown of Nigeria’s loading program revealed British – Dutch oil and gas firm Shell who loaded from Bonga, Bonny, EA and forcardos recorded the largest loading program of 644,000 bpd in February 2018 compared to 586,000 bpd in January 2018 followed by Exxon with Erha, Qua Iboe, and Yoho oil fields who recorded 407,000 bpd in February compared to 429,000 bpd in January.
Also, America’s multinational oil firm Chevron recorded an increase from 388,000 bpd in January 2018 to 389,000 bpd in February 2018 thanks to its oil fields in Agbami, Escravos and Pennington while French oil major Total recorded 207,000 bpd crude oil loading in February compared to 279,000 bpd in January 2018 with its Akpo, Amenam and Usan oil fields.
Italian’s ENI also recorded an increase in crude oil loading of 135,000 bpd in February compared to 132,000 bpd in January with Abo, Brass and Okono fields while Addax petroleum with Antan and Akwori oil fields would not be having any crude oil loading in February compare to 51,600 bpd recorded in January 2018.
Data from Bloomberg terminal did not take into consideration extra cargo of new grade Egina from Total which announced that Egina deepwater oilfield had achieved first oil production, helping push Nigeria’s oil output beyond 2.09 million barrels per day in December.
The French oil major said the field, located in around 1,600 meters of water depths, 150 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria, started up production on December 29, 2018. At plateau, the Egina field will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s production, according to a statement on its website.
Last week reports emerged that European refiners are turning to Nigerian crude oil grades following a drop in exports from Iran after the United States’ sanctions on the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to Reuters, a shortage of distillate-rich crudes in the Mediterranean caused by the dip in Iranian exports has redirected some supply of the likes of Urals, Azeri or CPC away from northwest Europe giving way for Nigeria’s crude oil
