Nigeria’s crude oil exports are expected to fall in July to just 1.43 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest level so far this year, according to July loading plans released on Monday.
Reuters reported that the export plan for July comprised 48 cargoes, compared with 60 cargoes and a daily rate of 1.796 million bpd in June, due in part to an outage on the Bonny Light stream, which has been under force majeure for a month.
Bonny Light, one of Nigeria’s most sought-after crude and shipments of the crude was suspended by Shell in May after an outage on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL), one of the two main pipelines that take Bonny Light grade to the export terminal.
July’s export plan, according to the Reuters analysis of loading schedule, also includes four cargoes of Akpo condensate with 123,000 bpd, compared with four cargoes in June with 133,000 bpd.
The export plans showed one extra cargo of Agbami than in June, as well as one more Bonga and an extra Qua Iboe. It also shows 3 fewer Forcados and one fewer Escravos.
A number of smaller streams showed no cargoes would load in July.
Nigerian oil export plans are prone to revisions and delays, with cargoes frequently pushed from one month to the next.
