By Adedapo Adesanya
Exxon Mobil Corporation has declared force majeure on its Nigerian oil liftings following strike action by its in-house workers’ union.
A force majeure absolves a company, in this case, Exxon Mobil, from liability in the event it cannot fulfil the terms of a contract or if attempting to do so will result in loss or damage of goods for reasons beyond its control.
The American oil company disclosed this in a statement on Monday, saying different terminals in the country would be affected.
According to Reuters, Exxon Mobil is making efforts to resolve the matter with the union.
“We will continue to take all reasonable actions necessary to resolve the impasse as soon as possible,” Exxon spokesperson Michelle Gray said in the statement, quoted by Reuters.
This may yet impact Nigeria’s plan to boost production to 1.6 million barrels per day to enable it to recover its long-time position as the largest African producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In the third quarter of last year, production in Nigeria fell behind Angola to about 1 million barrels per day over unprecedented oil theft in the country.
This compounded worries for other oil majors like Shell and TotalEnergies, which exited the country amid widespread corruption and security issues.
Although much recovery has occurred in the last few months, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), in its March data, said that the country’s crude output fell for the first time in three months.
The country’s crude oil output dropped month-on-month by 1.9 per cent to 1.517 million barrels per day in March 2023 from 1.547 million barrels per day recorded in February 2023
Exxon has been trying to sell $1.2 billion in shallow-water assets in Nigeria, where it finds operations challenging.
The company in February is keeping deep-water assets further from the coast.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Dipo Olowookere