Report: Shell to complete repairs on Forcados terminal this month

Nigeria’s revenue is expected to increase over the restoration of the Forcados oil export terminal in late September, Bloomberg reports.

A spokesperson for Shell Plc, which operates Forcados, told Bloomberg that repairs were ongoing at the terminal but declined to comment on the time frame for the resumption of oil exports.  

Since early August, Shell has been repairing a subsea hose which stopped exports of Forcados crude, one of the country’s largest export grades. 

When exports resume, according to the report, the terminal is expected to start by shipping a backlog of delayed cargoes from prior months, according to traders of West African crude. 

Also, shipments are scheduled to resume in late October at the Brass terminal in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, where a force majeure has been in place since June, according to loading plan data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Last month, Eni, an Italian oil firm, had said a low amount of oil was reaching the terminal because of extensive illegal bunkering, adding that “cargoes were delayed”. 

Nigeria’s exports have been reduced for months as a result of crude oil theft and other operational issues.

Since mid-June, the Trans-Niger Pipeline, a major pipeline capable of transporting about 180,000 barrels of crude per day, has ceased transporting oil due to theft.

In the second quarter, Nigeria’s oil output fell to 1.43 million barrels a day, the lowest quarterly production since 2016, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported last month.