Virtually all Equatorial Guinea oil business on hold - Hydrocarbons minister
Equatorial Guinea, which relies on oil and gas for 90 percent of state revenue, had already been grappling with falling output and the desire of certain oil majors, such as ExxonMobil, to exit the country.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s state oil company has delayed publishing its future oil export plans as it negotiates with local companies and international majors about how to cut output in line with a global deal on production curbs, trading sources said.
Official selling prices (OSPs) for Nigerian oil, usually issued in the second or third week of each month, had still not been issued on Monday. The global supply deal, agreed by the OPEC+ group of oil producers, is due to go into effect on May 1.
Traders expect the May OSPs to fall below April’s record lows published by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Traders of Nigerian oil told Reuters that Nigeria, an OPEC member, had revised its May programmes for oil cargoes and would also have to lower its output in June, based on the OPEC+ deal. “May cargoes will get delayed and new June cargoes may be relatively few,” one of the sources said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allied producers agreed to cut their combined output by 9.7 million barrels per day, or each reducing its production by more than 20 percent. The first round of cuts will run in May and June. Reductions will be less severe after that.
“The NNPC is working out the cuts for the international oil companies. That’s why the programme for June and OSP for May is yet to come out,” another trading source said.
The NNPC, which has not issued any public notice of delays or output cuts, needs to discuss reductions with companies working in the country, including oil majors Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Eni and Chevron.
A source at an oil major operating in Nigeria said the discussions were ongoing, noting that agreement on precise output allocations for each company remained a hurdle. “This hasn’t been done before,” the source added.
Two industry sources said talks ranged from an blanket percentage output cut for all players to focusing the output curbs more on offshore fields that are not run by a joint venture with NNPC.”