April 18, (THEWILL) – ExxonMobil has declared force majeure on lifts from different terminals in the country following industrial action by the company’s in-house workers union, the company said on Monday in a statement.
Spokesperson Michelle Gray in a statement said that the company was exploring ways of resolving the issues with its workers.
“We will continue to take all reasonable actions necessary to resolve the impasse as soon as possible,” Gray said on Monday.
Exxon is the operator of Qua Iboe, one of Nigeria’s larger crude streams. Trade sources were not sure as yet whether any output had been shut down and what would be the impact on loading programmes.
Qua was last heard offered on Friday at dated Brent plus $2.25 to $2.50 depending on dates. A trader said on Monday levels had not changed.
ExxonMobil has been trying to sell $1.2 billion in shallow-water assets in “challenging” Nigeria, the company told Reuters in February, while keeping deep-water assets further from the coast.
Analysts say such a strike action would further compound the situation in the country, as the industry has been struggling to meet its OPEC production quota.
Nigeria recorded its first crude oil production decline in six months in March this year, first time since output nearly fell to 900,000 barrels per day in September last year, data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), showed.
The country’s production declined to 1.26 million bpd during the month, indicating a 2.9 per cent decrease from the over 1.3 million bpd recorded in February.
The figure released by the nation’s upstream regulatory agency differed markedly from an earlier Reuters survey which stressed that Nigeria was nearing its 1.6 million barrels per day target in the first quarter of 2023.
While the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production allocation to Nigeria remains at about 1.8 million bpd, the country’s output in February was roughly 1.3 million bpd, still short of the cartel’s expectation.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
