The force majeure on the Shell-operated Forcados oil terminal has been lifted after 16 months, providing a boost to Nigerias oil industry
After a militant attack on the Trans Forcados Pipeline in February 2016, the terminal was placed under force majeure. There was a brief resumption during the autumn of 2016 but militants attacked the facility again and the force majeure remained in place. Forcados is Nigerias main oil export terminal.
Forcados usually exports up to 240,000 bpd, bring the West African country back to around the 1.8mn bpd level which the government wanted to achieve prior to joining the OPEC output cuts. However, Nigeria is now exempt from these cuts and production is on the rise.
Following the lifting of the force majeure, indigenous Nigerian oil company Seplat issued a statement saying it has been able to "successfully reinstate gross production at OMLs 4, 38 and 41 to pre-force majeure levels of around 75,000 bpd and 290 MMscfd."
Commenting on the operational update Austin Avuru, Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The resumption of exports at the Forcados terminal has enabled us to very quickly de-constrain production, and in doing so once again demonstrate Seplat’s strong underlying fundamentals. Our focus now is on restoring production and cash flow momentum whilst also establishing longer-term access to multiple export routes. Whilst the lifting of force majeure is welcome news we continue to monitor the situation closely and, dependent on performance in the interim period, will seek to resume formal production guidance at our half-yearly results to be released on 27 July 2017”.