Nigeria keeps its partners in suspense over future oil export plans.

Chinazor Megbolu

Nigeria has delayed publishing its future oil export plans while negotiating with indigenous oil firms and international majors about how to cut output in line with a global deal on production cut

This was disclosed on Monday in a news bulletin monitored in Lagos when officials of the NNPC stressed that the official selling prices (OSPs) for Nigerian oil, usually issued in the second or third week of each month, hasn’t been done.

It was explained that the global supply deal, agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (#OPEC+) group of oil producers, is due to go into effect come May 1, 2020.

The bulletin noted that traders expect that the May OSPs will decrease below April’s record lows published by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (#NNPC).

It was further revealed that traders of Nigerian oil said the country, which is a member of the OPEC, had revised its May programmes for oil cargoes and would also have to lower its output in June this year based on the OPEC+ deal.

It was also noted that the May cargoes will get delayed and new June cargoes may be relatively few.

The #OPEC, #Russia, and other allied producers, however, have agreed to cut their combined output by 9.7 million barrels per day, or each reducing their production by more than 20 per cent.

The first round of cuts will run in May and June 2020 of which reductions will be less severe after that.

“The NNPC is working out the cuts for the international oil companies, that’s why the programme for June and OSP for May is yet to come out,” a trading source had said.

A source during the news bulletin posited that #NNPC, which has not issued any public notice of delays or output cuts, needs to discuss reductions with organisations working in Nigeria.

Some of these oil majors are; #RoyalDutchShell, #ExxonMobil, #Eni and #Chevron.

The official went further to state that Brent crude, the benchmark against which Nigerian oil trades on the global market, fell to its lowest in two decades last week before staging a modest recovery.

It said that Brent was trading around $20 a barrel on Monday.

Meanwhile, Traders have pointed out that the country’s key crude grade Bonny Light was heard to be offered at as low as dated Brent minus $5, compared to a premium of $3 in more normal market conditions.

Moreover, the bulletin hinted that at least three dozen Nigerian crude cargoes are still available for export in April and May and the country has minimal domestic storage.

It also said that global measures to fight the #Covid-19 pandemic brought about surging inventories, as demand for oil has tumbled due to it.

These measures also boosted the challenge for some producers to find buyers for their oil.