As the industry was contending with crude oil theft, the suspension of production by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil terminal in mid-July, due to a leak at the export terminal, dashed the hope of the country’s expected gradual production recovery.
Shell had temporarily stopped loading at the Forcados crude oil facility due to the suspected leak at the export terminal. Nigeria has been unable to meet its OPEC target since the second half of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic-induced cuts were announced.
The data released by the industry regulator showed a massive fall in production at the Forcados facility from 7.085 million barrels in June to 2.82 million barrels in the month under review.
“We can confirm that injections into the Forcados Oil Terminal were curtailed on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, following the report of some sheen in the mooring vicinity,” the company said last month when the leak was detected.
According to the report, workers observed a sheen near the single-buoy mooring facility, prompting the suspension of activities to conduct investigations.
The Forcados crude oil terminal had the highest crude oil output in June 2023 among the seven major crude terminals in the country, according to a previous NUPRC report.
