Nigeria adds 250,000bd as Shell lifts force majeure on Bonny crude exports

Lagos -- The Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, a subsidiary of Shell Companies in Nigeria, has lifted force majeure on Bonny crude exports. SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola EssienNelson, said the lifting of the force majeure was with effect from Wednesday, March 15.

The company had declared the action on March 3 after a "significant decline in crude receipts at the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal", the spokesperson said in a statement.

The lifting of the force majeure will ensure the commencement of oil processing and exports through the 250,000 barrels per day, bpd, Bonny export terminal.

The development has added that volume of crude oil to Nigeria’s daily exports, which has been losing that volume since the force majeure came into effect on March 3.

Nigeria had, in the last 1-2 years, lost a huge volume of its oil production due to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

Oil production fell to less than 1 million barrels a day in August 2022, the lowest in years due to increased crude theft and vandalism of pipelines, forcing some companies to curtail or stop production.

The impact of this is that Nigeria has been unable to attain its Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, production quota of 1.8 million barrels per day, missing out on an oil price boom that has been enriching oil and gas producKinyagriand

exporting countries across the world.

The country’s oil production and exports also rose three months ago by 225,000 barrels per day as the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production

Company, SNEPCo's, deep water Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO, vessel returned to production after weeks of shut down for maintenance.

The Bonga FPSO, located about 180 kilometres off the Atlantic coastline, was shut down October 18, 2022 for scheduled annual Turn Around Maintenance, TAM.