OpeOluwani Akintayo 13 September 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Nigeria’s crude oil production for the month of May 2017 was down 700,000 barrels per day, b/d, owing to various reasons ranging from technical shut-ins to well integrity issues and power supply.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, a total of 773,100b/d was lost during the month.
Adducing reasons for the loss, NNPC said it was due to shut-ins from five terminals in May.
Data obtained from the corporation showed that the first loss was from the Yoho terminal which was shut from 15th – 18th May 2017.
About 48,100b/d of oil was shut-in as a result, while the second shut-in of 280,000b/d came from the Forcados terminal.
A force majeure which was declared on the 48-inch crude oil export line from February 21, 2016, was still in place in May 2017, resulting in a shut-in of 280,000b/d in May 2017.
However, a line flush was carried out on May 20, leading to the reopening of export activities at the terminal in the last week of the month.
Similarly, the Qua Iboe terminal suffered 180, 000b/d production shut-in during the period due to oil well integrity issues and high water production, according to NNPC.
“An average of 180,000b/d was shut-in throughout the month reviewed,” it said.
The Bonga terminal, which was shut on the May 15, 2017 due to crude oil leakage, also had its fair share of the shut-ins, as a total of 190,000b/d was unproduced.
Due to plant trip as a result of a loss of power on May 7, 2017, Nigeria also lost about 75,000b/d of production, the NNPC disclosed.
Total loss from the five terminals for May equaled 773,100b/d.
Meanwhile, efforts by the Federal Government to improve the fortunes of indigenous oil firms are yet to yield any meaningful result, as independent and marginal oil fields companies, accounted for 5.55 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude oil and condensates production over a period of four months, from January to April 2017.
Data obtained from NNPC’s latest Monthly Financial and Operations Report, showed that in the four-month period, independents and marginal fields companies produced 11.723 million barrels of crude oil and condensates, representing 5.55 per cent of total production of 211.22 million barrel produced by all oil companies in the period.
Giving a breakdown of the output on a monthly basis, the NNPC report pointed that in January and February 2017, 2.771 million barrels and 2.739 million barrels of crude oil and condensates were recorded, representing 4.9 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.
