Crude Oil Stream News

Nigeria is set to export more of its largest crude oil stream, Qua Iboe, on a barrel-per-day basis in April, while loadings of two other main export grades will also rise, loading programmes showed on Friday. Forcados exports will also rise, to 262,000 bpd in April on 10 cargoes, up from 248,000 bpd on 11 cargoes in March. Bonny Light exports in April are also expected to edge higher on a bpd basis to 163,000 bpd in April, up from 161,000 bpd in March. The total Bonny loading volume will slip to 4.9 million barrels on five cargoes, down slightly from 4.99 million barrels on six cargoes in March.

Nigeria’s crude oil production and exports have been hit by severe outages as a result of attacks on oil infrastructure by rebel fighters in the Niger River Delta. Various sources report that Qua Iboe Terminal has shut down operations until further notice. All tanks on the facility were emptied of crude, operations have ceased completely and all personnel have been evacuated from the terminal, which is operated by ExxonMobil. Qua Iboe is Nigeria’s largest crude oil stream and exports usually more than 300,000 barrels per day (b/d). Exports of Nigeria’s other large crude oil grades, like Forcados, Bonny Light and Escravos have also been restricted, primarily due to sabotage and attacks on pipelines. As a result of the outages Nigeria’s oil production has dropped below 1.5 mb/d.

Loose barge drifts by platforms in North Sea; BP platform evacuated, output shut down. A fierce storm in the North Sea forced oil firms to evacuate platforms and shut down production on Thursday on concerns that they could be hit by a drifting barge that had broken its anchor. The strong winds had ripped the barge from its moorings and sent it towards BP's Valhall platform, which lies in the middle of the North Sea between Norway and Britain. This prompted the oil and gas company to shut down output and evacuate dozens of staff on board. ConocoPhillips also stopped production and removed crew from installations in the same area. A spokeswoman for the Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway told Reuters the barge eventually missed the BP platform by some two kilometres.

Shell has declared force majeure on exports of Nigeria's Forcados crude oil stream, a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday. 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 program, with a total of 158,000 bpd, had not yet started trading, sources said. An overhang of light sweet crudes…

Total SA’s Elgin platform leaked gas for a third day in the U.K. North Sea, and neighboring rigs were evacuated to guard against the risk of an explosion. The platform was evacuated and production halted after a “well control problem” caused a leak on March 25. Total has flown in outside experts to help stem the flow of fuel, which prompted Royal Dutch Shell Plc. to move staff from its neighboring Shearwater field. The Elgin and Franklin fields, which send oil and gas through the platform, supply about 15 percent of Forties crude, the biggest component of Dated Brent used to price more than half of the world’s oil. As well as gas, about 23 metric tons of condensate…