Royal Dutch Shell has announced that its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has lifted the force majeure on Bonny Light crude oil exports after production was reestablished at the Bonny Terminal.SPDC declared this force majeure in early May due to a damage on the Nembe Creek trunkline, although the supply of natural gas from the terminal were not affected.

According to a Shell spokesperson, the force majeure at SPDC's Forcados crude oil export terminal which was declared since February 2016 remains in place.The Force majeure at Eni's Brass River and ExxonMobil's Qua Iboe crude oil export terminals too both of which are of a similar size to the two Shell terminals, also remain in place since May 2016.

In the past couple of months, Nigeria’s oil exports have been affected by an increase in militant attacks, mostly organized by the Niger Delta Avengers.The supply outages have drove the oil prices above $50 a barrel.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its June 2016 Monthly Oil Report disclosed that the activities of the militants in Nigeria have driven oil production to thirty-year lows. The Agency estimated May 2016 Nigerian crude supply at 1.37million bpd, compared to the 1.76million bpd in Q1 of 2016, Natural Gas Europe reports.

Anita Fatunji