By Adedapo Adesanya
Data from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has shown that Nigeria’s crude and condensate output fell by 9 per cent to 1.52 million barrels per day in December 2020.
The petroleum sector regulator noted that this reduction happened as the country faced production problems at key export grade, Qua Iboe.
According to the figures, crude production fell to 1.17 million barrels per day last month from 1.33 million barrels per day in November while on the other hand, condensate production was up slightly up to 348,078 barrels per day in the month under review from 339,920 published in the previous month.
Loadings of Qua Iboe have been on force majeure since mid-December after they were temporarily halted due to a fire at the Qua terminal, operator ExxonMobil said.
This occurrence led to production issues for Qua Iboe and the force majeure on exports remained in place. A force majeure is a clause that is included in contracts that prevent someone from fulfilling an agreed obligation due to unforeseen circumstances.
The DPR data showed that Qua Iboe, which is the country’s largest and most popular export grade, averaged 49,946 barrels per day last month compared with 159,225 barrels per day in November.
Exports of Brass River were on force majeure from late November to mid-December, after a sabotage attack on an oil and gas pipeline.
Nigeria saw its output fall steadily in the second half of last year as it came under pressure to make hefty cuts as part of its obligations from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+.
Currently, Nigeria has the capacity to produce around 2.2 million barrels per day of crude and condensate but it pumped around 1.75 million barrels per day in 2019, its lowest since 2016.
Under the OPEC+ deal, Nigeria has committed to keeping its crude output at 1.52 million barrels per day for January and February, 313,000 barrels per day below its baseline under the deal of 1.829 million barrels per day.
The current output restraint by OPEC and its allies are focused on crude and not condensate.
