14th July, 2015
LONDON, (Reuters) – Shell has lifted a force majeure on exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil stream that had been in place for more than two months, the company said on Tuesday.
“The Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture lifted the force majeure on exports from Forcados Terminal effective 18:00 Nigerian time yesterday, July 13, 2015,” Shell said in a statement. “This followed the completion of repairs on the NPDC-operated Trans Forcados Pipeline.”
The company 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 original plan of exports for Forcados crude in July included seven cargoes with a total of 6.3 million barrels of oil, though traders said several of the cargoes have already been deferred to August as a result of loading delays.
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.