Forcados Crude Exports Halted for Another Month

Nigeria's Forcados crude oil exports are expected to remain halted for at least another month as pipeline repairs continue following a militant attack in February, an industry source familiar with the matter said.

SPDC, a local affiliate of Shell, exports Forcados crude oil from Nigeria.

A spokesman for SPDC said: "We have no new updates but are committed to bringing the line back as soon as possible. We can't give any specific timing."

Nigeria's oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said earlier this month that repairs would be completed by the end of July.

Forcados exports were between 250,000 and 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) prior to an unusually sophisticated attack by a militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), on an underwater pipeline in February.

The NDA has hit other major installations and brought the country's output to the lowest in decades earlier this year. OPEC member Nigeria depends on oil sales for the bulk of government revenues and nearly all its foreign exchange.

Top officials said on Thursday the government was in talks with the NDA, which the group has denied several times, and that output was down by 700,000 bpd. In June, officials said they had secured a one-month ceasefire but attacks resumed sooner.

Nigeria normally produces around 2 million bpd of crude.

Reporting by Julia Payne