Nigeria cuts March crude prices as.....

Nigeria cuts March crude prices as export to China shrinks

The Federal Government has slashed the price of crude oil export for the month of March as no Nigerian cargo is sailing to China in February.

Nigeria is becoming increasingly dependent on European demand and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has effectuated an across-the-board price cut on its March 2020 official selling prices.

Its flagship export streams like Bonny Light, Qua Iboe, Forcados, Egina or Escravos were all cut by 50-60 cents per barrel month-on-month.

Also, Nigeria’s preliminary loading programmes for April continued to emerge, after differentials were weighed down in the last trading cycle by sluggish demand in both Eastern and Western markets.

Nigeria will export seven cargoes of Bonny Light in April, with volumes set to fall to 228,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 245,000 bpd in March, according to Reuters.

Exports of Forcados were set at nine cargoes or 283,000, bpd in April, up slightly from 279,000 bpd in March.

A single cargo of Yoho is due to be exported by Nigeria’s NNPC on April 9-10.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell on Friday as OPEC+ decided not to move its March meeting forward while Russia indicated that it currently has no intentions to cut production further.

Similarly, oil majors in the country have taken exception to tax increases in planned fiscal reform policy of the government and feared that such move may hamper investment in the oil and gas sector.

They said oil reform, which has taken almost two decades to conclude is urgently needed to get money into its energy sector.

However, Nigeria has not carried out a full revamp of the law underpinning its oil and gas sector since the 1960s as piecemeal tax hikes, and a growing lack of certainty around terms, have made companies wary.

In his reaction, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has assured of government’s commitment in reviving the petroleum sector.

He said the revised law governing oil and gas dubbed the Petroleum Industries Bill (PIB) would be presented to the National Assembly this week.

“The law governs virtually all terms of oil and gas – from who allocates coveted exploration licences to where money goes once it lands in government coffers.

A draft measure is circulating divided into two bills, one covering fiscal terms and the other the share that goes directly to oil-producing communities. Both topics are contentious.”