Oil exports to drop as Shell declares force majeure on Nigerian Forcados crude

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) says it has declared force majeure on exports of Nigerian Forcados crude oil after a malfunctioning barge obstructed a tanker path.

SPDC is a Nigerian subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Force majeure is a clause that allows a company to skip contractual obligations following issues beyond its control.

According to an SPDC statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday, SPDC declared force majeure on Forcados shipments, effective from 12 noon on Monday, and the company said that efforts were underway to restore access.

Forcados is Nigeria’s sweet crude blend with an average output of about 200,000 barrels a day. 

The shutdown comes a month after Shell said it was restoring flows from its Bonny facility.

In November, Nigeria regained the top spot in Africa, producing an average of 1.27 million barrels per day.

Libya had clinched the top spot in Africa in October with 1.24 mb/d.

The oil and gas sector accounts for about 10 percent of Nigeria’s GDP and petroleum exports around 86 percent of revenue, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

This halt in crude shipments from Nigeria’s Forcados will further increase the ongoing issues that have reduced crude oil export sales in recent months.