One of Africa's largest petroleum producers recently switched to using a fleet of small river vessels to boost oil production due to the prolonged breakdown of one of its primary pipelines, an American media outlet has reported.
According to the report, the move is aimed at increasing output prior to OPEC's decision on new oil-production quotas. In light of the pipeline disruption, Nigeria begun utilizing small tankers to transport a new oil grade, Nembe Creek, up the Niger River delta and onto an ocean-going vessel stationed offshore.
Previously, the oil was transported through the Nembe Creek Trunk Pipeline to the Bonny terminal, operated by Shell. The Aiteo Group-operated conduit has not transmitted oil to Bonny since February 2022, as indicated by the report. Nevertheless, Bonny remains supplied by another pipeline and its flow continues.
The new logistics system includes a floating storage offloading vessel named Galilean 7, moored near the Brass terminal. On October 10, the first cargo of the new grade from Nembe Creek terminal was loaded onto a 1-million barrel Suezmax tanker Maran Orpheus.
The report highlighted that the rerouting decreases the total shipments from Bonny. It was also noted that transporting Nembe Creek oil, owned by Nigeria and Aiteo, through shuttling is a much costlier method than through pipelines. The depth of the river constrains the size of ships that can navigate through it, necessitating approximately 24 individual deliveries to fill a standard ocean-going vessel with sufficient oil.
According to media reports, Nigeria plans to load around 65,000 barrels per day of the Nembe Creek grade during the current and next month, thus replacing a significant portion, albeit not all, of the reduction in flows from Bonny.
Over a year ago, Nigerian company Eroton suspended transportation of its crude oil through the Nembe Creek Trunk Line due to widespread theft by vandals. Nigeria has recently seen a surge in oil pipeline vandalism and theft in its oil production regions, exacerbating the country's revenue challenges. Nigerian officials have repeatedly stated that the nation loses around 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day to both local and foreign thieves, despite government efforts to combat the illicit trade.