Nigeria's output to surge on Forcados, Qua Iboe restart

OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2016. Nigerian crude production may surge in the coming weeks with loading schedules showing Forcados and Qua Iboe adding 460,000 b/d to the country's October exports, which are now expected to reach around 1.9mn b/d.

Forcados, which has been largely shut in since February when Niger delta militants blew up the main export pipeline, is due to load its first cargo on 28-29 September. Another eight cargoes are planned in October, when loadings of the distillate-rich grade will reach 215,000 b/d.

Qua Iboe is also due to start loading next week, after a two-month hiatus, with production being ramped in October to an average of 245,000 b/d.

Force majeure has not been lifted on either Qua Iboe or Forcados.

The value of light sweet crude in the Atlantic basin has slumped due to the rising output of Nigerian crude, and as Libya also resumes shipments of grades that had been shut in by the conflict there.

An upsurge in attacks on oil infrastructure by Niger delta rebel groups has hammered Nigerian crude production this year, with output falling to 1.37mn b/d in May — its lowest level in nearly three decades.

Production has since risen, with Shell lifting force majeure on exports of Bonny Light earlier this month. But September exports remain below 1.5mn b/d, despite the latest additions to the loading programme.