Shell halts loading of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil; signs 12-year deal to supply LNG to Morocco
Reuters report that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has temporarily suspended loadings of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil due to a potential leak at the export terminal.
“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.
According to the report, workers observed a sheen near the single-buoy mooring facility on Wednesday, prompting the suspension of activities in order 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 data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Since the beginning of the year, crude oil production at the Forcados terminal has varied between 5 and 7 million barrels per day, with modest declines in March and April 2023.
The Forcados terminal in Delta state boosted crude oil and condensate output to 7.01 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd) in May 2023, up from 5.78 mbpd in April 2023.
Data gleaned from reports by the upstream regulator revealed Nigeria produced 1.25 mbpd in June 2023, as well as 55,088 blended and 176,030 unblended condensates.
For the highlighted time, these data totaled 1.48 mbpd crude production. Last month, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-13 output of oil saw only a slight decrease.
This was mostly due to Nigeria and Iraq minimising the impact of other countries’ output cuts.
Meanwhile, the multinational oil company has signed a 12-year arrangement to supply Morocco with 0.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year.
According to a statement from the Energy Ministry, the LNG agreement was signed by the National Electricity and Drinking Water Office (ONEE) and Shell for 12 years to assist Morocco’s energy needs and diversify its energy sources.
According to the ministry, the gas would initially be transported from Spanish ports via a gas pipeline that connects the two countries until Morocco constructs its own LNG facilities.
The LNG will assist ONEE in operating two power units in northern and eastern Morocco that formerly ran on Algerian gas delivered over the same pipeline, according to reports.
Recall Algeria unilaterally decided in 2021 to halt gas flows to Spain via Morocco through the pipeline. Rabat said it would reverse the flow in 2021 by importing LNG from Spanish terminals.
ONEE is aiming to increase the share of gas in Morocco’s electricity mix to meet low-carbon goals, the ministry said.
According to official estimates, renewables contributed for 18% of total electricity production in Morocco last year, while gas accounted for 1.6% and coal accounted for 72%.
By March 2023, renewable energy has accounted for 40% of the country’s installed capacity, with Morocco aiming for 52% by 2030.
