Repair work on Nigeria’s Forcados oil pipeline to take until June – sources

Repair work on the pipeline feeding Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil to the export terminal is expected to take until June, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The grade, which was scheduled to export some 249,000 barrels per day of oil in February and March, has been under force majeure since Feb. 21, a week after a pipeline leak forced a halt to loadings to the export platform.

No export programmes were issued for April or May. Shell, whose local affiliate SPDC operates the pipeline, said it could not comment on the timeline of repair work.

Local producers had to shut Forcados crude output as a result of the pipeline closure, and sources said it is likely to take some time once the pipeline is repaired to resume oil production and exports.