Nigeria’s crude export to India drops

According to a Reuters report, the militant attack on the Trans Forcados Pipeline forced key Indian clients, most of which are state-run companies, to turn to Angola for supplies, bolstering Angola exports by almost 70 percent.

While India still remained the single largest buyer of Nigerian crude oil, production is well below NNPC’s 2.2 million barrels per day target and presently stands at 1.6mbpd, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said.

The minister further stated that after the Trans-Forcados Pipeline was shut last year, production dropped by as much as one million barrels per day, giving the ministry little or no means to earn forex needed to service the economy.

Since the pipeline was shut, Nigeria has lost about $100 billion in revenue to attacks by the militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta, “a cushion could see economic growth and gradual recovery,” said Samed Olukoya, a research analyst at Investors King Ltd.

The Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru, said the Trans Forcado Pipeline could be reopened towards the end of the second quarter.

However, India’s imports from Iran rose slightly in January, compared to previous months as Indian refiners received full volumes from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.