Nigeria Eyes New Crude Export Terminals To Raise Output

Nigeria has authorized two new crude oil export terminals that could process more than 400,000 b/d of oil which could help to boost output according to people involved.

• The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority issued the licenses on 13 June to a subsidiary of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and upstream operator Belema Oil Producing.
• NNPC Exploration and Production will build the 2.2 million barrel offshore Utapate terminal, while the Belema Sweet Export terminal will have a capacity of 2 million barrels when it comes online in 18-24 months, Farouk Ahmed, head of the regulator, said. Belema Oil CEO said he hoped the new terminal could handle around 400,000 b/d of crude according to local media.
• Nigeria has 31 export terminals but only 23 are active. In April, a 10-day strike by in-house unions at ExxonMobil's export terminals caused monthly Nigerian production to fall by more than 250,000 b/d.
• Bola Tinubu, Nigeria's new president and who has upended the country's economic orthodoxy since taking office late May, promised to raise crude output to 2.6 million b/d by 2027 during the presidential campaign.
• Nigeria’s crude oil production stood at 1.269mbpd in May, up from 1.098mbpd according to the latest OPEC Monthly Oil Report.