Eight months after Shell declared force majeure on the export of Forcados in Nigeria, the country has reportedly lost at least N689 billion.
Forcados is one of the nation’s largest crude oil grades and has been shut since February after it was attacked by militants in the Niger Delta.
Today reports that the International Energy Agency had in April estimated that Nigeria could lose up to $1 billion, which amounts to about N197 billion by May.
“The Forcados terminal in Delta state, one of Nigeria’s biggest terminals, was scheduled to load 250,000 barrels of crude per day.
“At $40 per barrel, Nigeria could stand to lose about $1 billion between February, when force majeure was declared, and May, when repairs are expected to be completed,” the agency had said.
The report said, however, that eight months after, the Forcados had not been reopened.
The report further said with an average oil price of $48 and an exchange rate of N300 to a dollar, the loss recorded from June 20 to October 21 now amounts to N442.8 billion.
On Friday, October 21, the ministry of Finance confirmed that the country’s revenue had had really dropped by about 12 per cent from August to N279.75 billion.
It also said the nation’s export volume dropped by 1.15 million barrels resulting in a $46.52 million drop in oil export sales for the government.
The ministery said in a statement: “Force majeure was declared at the Bonny Terminal and there was a subsisting force majeure at the Forcados Terminal.
“Shut-in and shutdown of the pipeline for repairs and maintenance also contributed to the drop in revenue.”
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