Excess Crude: 20 Ships With Nigerian Oil Stranded as France, Spain, Ivory Coast and Others Shy Away
- About 20 shipments filled with Nigerian crude are floating on the sea, hunting for buyers
- The development comes because France is facing industrial strikes, and other refineries around the world are undergoing maintenance
- OPEC has also cut oil output for oil-producing countries, thereby compounding Nigeria's woes
Nigeria is still finding it difficult to find buyers for its crude oil as strikes at refineries in France and maintenance in other places reduce Europe's demands.
Nigerian crude traded last week with more than 20 shipments for April still looking for buyers.
Source: UGC
OPEC cuts oil output
Bloomberg reports that the situation is similar to 10 days ago when 20 to 25 shipments with about 1 million barrels of oil each were in the market looking for buyers.
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Experts say sellers have few options for the oil glut as cargo holders could resell their supplies at discounted costs or hold the volumes in floating storage until refinery strikes are over.
According to reports, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) has cut about one million barrels in new inflation risk.
OPEC+ made a shocking million-barrel cut in new inflation risk after announcing a surprise oil production cut of over one million barrels per day, abandoning previous promises that it would hold steady supply, posing a threat to the global economy.
The cut is a significant reduction for the market, which has faced price fluctuations.
Oil fortunes skyrocketed to as much as 8% in New York on Monday, April 3, 2023, as gasoline gained in price, putting further inflationary pressures which could force interest rate hikes by central banks.
Top buyers of Nigeria's oil
The development comes as Spain has become a top destination for Nigeria's crude oil.
In Q2 of 2022, Spain was named the biggest buyer of Nigerian crude oil, with India, France, Netherlands, Indonesia, and the UN competing as the top five buyers of Nigerian crude.
The foreign trade report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that other top sources are South Africa, Ivory Coast, Portugal, and Italy.
Reports say Spain bought N580.2 billion of crude oil between July and August in Nigeria. India bought crude oil valued at N559 billion.
Nigeria sold about N413.83 billion of crude oil to France, Netherlands bought N396.51 billion. Indonesia bought N406 billion of oil from Nigeria, and the US purchased about N292.83 billion of crude.
Last month the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) appointed the ex-vice president of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Jan-Marc Cordier, as its head of the oil trading firm, NNPC Trading Limited.
Reports say the appointment is the first time the Nigerian company has hired a foreigner to head a critical part of its operations.
Report says Nigeria rakes in N1.4 trillion from oil in February
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Government earned about N1.4 trillion from oil export in February 2023.
Earnings from oil export increased marginally in February last month, as oil output surged by 100,000 barrels per day, amounting to an increase of 2.8 million barrels in the month, data from Reuters said.
An analysis of the data indicates that an increased crude oil production by 100,000 daily translates to a 2.8 million output in February 2023.
Source: Legit.ng
