Port Harcourt, Nigeria | – Royal Dutch Shell plc Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has declared force majeure on exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil stream, a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday.
“Force majeure” is a legal term releasing a company from contractual obligations when faced with circumstances beyond its control.
It declared force majeure on the evening on May 5 following ‘a series of leaks’ in the Trans Forcados pipeline that brings the oil to the export terminal. The pipeline itself is operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).
Several cargoes of Forcados for May loading were still on offer, with around 189,000 barrels per day (bpd) scheduled for export in six cargoes. The June export programme, with a total of 158,000 bpd, had not yet started trading, sources said.
An overhang of light sweet crudes in the Atlantic Basin has depressed differentials to dated Brent and limited the impact of recent supply disruptions on some West African crude oil grades.
