Yemisi Izuora
Government is working hard to realise the export of about 61.8 million barrels of crude oil in January next year, the highest since October this year.
This is according to available loading programmes, which indicated that the planned export volume translates to 1.99 million barrels per day, bpd.
Loading information for at least two programmes was still pending, meaning the total could rise further, but the programme was already five cargoes above the 1.82 million bpd initially planned for December.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), recently lowered official selling prices for the country’s oil to their lowest in more than a decade as the fight for market share and millions of unsold barrels took their toll.
Nigeria is currently having difficulties getting buyers for its crude oil in the international market, even as the price of its various oil grades have been on a downward trend over the last couple of months.
Data obtained from global energy information providers, revealed that Nigeria is currently recording supply glut in the sales of its crude, as buyers seem to prefer other competing grades from other countries.
It still has 25 to 30 of its December cargoes available for sale, and some 10 million barrels loading in November were moved into the systems of the oil companies who owned them after failing to find spot market buyers at attractive prices.
Analysts are of the view that unless an improvement is recorded in the days and weeks ahead, the Nigerian economy would be plunged into a financial quagmire, as it would be starved of funds to fund its budget and manage the affairs of the country.
Specifically, a Reuters data indicated that Nigeria had been only able to get buyers for 22 of its 62 December 2015 loading cargoes, leaving around 40 cargoes of nearly every grade of its crude still unsold.
The data said that Qua Iboe was better supported, having cleared most of its December loading cargoes, while other grades, including Forcados, Bonny Light, and Escravos were under substantial pressure.
However, in Angola, Nigeria’s fierce competitor, reports said there were still at least eight cargoes from the December programme looking for buyers, including Pazflor and CLOV.