There are fears in some
quarters that the country’s exports in May could fall as low as around 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) occasioned by a force majeure on forcados grades.
Our source reports that exports of Okwori grade were not being expected in May due to maintenance even as the Ebok grade would not load any cargooes.
Although traders say the development would likely be temporary.
One trader and term buyer of Nigerian crude said that buyers were probably hiding and the differentials may fall and even encourage sales.
However, the recent admission by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to the effect that reserves dropped to 35 billion barrels has received fears from stakeholders.
They say the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill P1B which was still in the National Assembly was responsible for fears expressed in some quarters that the industry was heading toward a halt as evident in the absence of major projects’ implementation.
However, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu in a recent statement said the quest for Nigeria to grow its reserves would be given priority in the PIB.
He said this would be achieved through a robust arceage management system that would be closely monitored by the Upstream Petroleum Inspectorate to ensure the release of acreages that have been held over time without activity.
“Said he, contrary to some widely held views that fiscal regime is the cause of low exploration activity, rather it is the lack of open acreage and limited funding in the existing joint ventures that is limiting exploration activity.
The NNPC boss said the intended new acreage management system would eventually release new acreage for exploration and increase the  level of activity in the petroleum sector.
There are also indications from oil multinationals that the reserves may continue on a downward trend for some years, a situation that have forced them to adopt a wait and see strategy even as they expect unfavourable fiscal terms in the PIB.
However, an industry expert, Emi Membere-Otaji has expressed teh view that the nation was not making new investments which was crucial in replenishing reserve.