Niger Delta
Force Majeure On Qua Iboe Crude Still In Force — Mobil
Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), an affiliate of US oil firm ExxonMobil, says the force majeure it declared on its Qua Iboe crude streams on May 12 is yet to be lifted.
MPN Spokesman, Nigel Cookey-Gam made the clarification when he spoke with newsmen in Eket on Friday.
“We have yet to lift it, it is still in force and we want to ensure that everything is alright before we lift it” Cookey-Gam said.
The oil firm had in a statement signed by its External Affairs Director, Mrs Gloria Essien-Dannar said that it could not meet its contractual obligations to crude buyers due to a pipeline damage at the Qua Iboe oil fields offshore, Akwa Ibom shoreline.
Sources at the Qua Iboe oil fields said that about $12 million oil export revenue may be threatened due to a partial shut down in oil production at the Qua Iboe oil fields to effect repairs on a damaged crude pipeline.
The pipeline damage, it was learnt, will cause a decline in crude export from the over 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 250,000 bpd at the Qua Iboe crude export terminal operated by the oil firm in joint venture with NNPC.
Force Majeure frees an oil company from legal liabilities for meeting its contractual obligations due to circumstances outside its control.
The oil firm has ruled out sabotage as it could not find evidence of interference with the facility located about 20 kilometers from the coastline.
It would be recalled that MPN reported that a pipeline leak from one of its offshore platforms on May 1, discharged an unknown volume of crude into the Atlantic.
The company reportedly isolated the pipeline to forestall further oil spillage.