(Ecofin Agency) - Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has again declared a force majeure on Bonny Light crude oil exports, two weeks after it lifted previous force majeure on exports of the grade.

Effective from last week Thursday, the force majeure was declared after Aiteo, shut down the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, one of the two pipelines that export the Bonny Light grade.

Bonny Light was under force majeure in June after the second export line, Trans Niger Pipeline, was shut down due to a sabotage attack by oil thieves. This had delayed export by about 10 days.

According to data compiled by Reuters, as at June 22, Bonny Light loadings for August were set at 226,000 bpd. But at that time, the grade was still under the previous force majeure declared by Shell.

The data also showed that Nigeria’s crude oil exports were set to exceed 2 million bpd in August, the highest level in 17 months.

Anita Fatunji