Exxon Mobil Corp. announced force majeure on oil liftings from various Nigerian ports on Monday, citing continuous industrial action by the company’s in-house workers union.
Nigeria plans to raise production to 1.6 million barrels per day in order to restore its historic position as OPEC’s top African producer.
Due to chronic corruption and security challenges, companies such as Shell PLC and TotalEnergies departed the country in the third quarter of last year, forcing Nigeria’s production to slip behind Angola by nearly 1 million bpd.
According to OPEC, Nigeria produced 1.38 million barrels per day in February.
Exxon declared on Monday, “We will continue to take all reasonable actions necessary to resolve the impasse as soon as possible.”
Exxon said in February that it was looking to sell $1.2 billion in shallow-water assets in Nigeria because it found the operation “challenging,” while keeping its deep-water assets further from the coast.
Oil prices fell on Monday morning as traders were concerned about the effect of the US Federal Reserve’s likely interest rate hike in May. Brent oil futures fell 55 cents, or 0.6%, to $85.76 a barrel at 12:40 PM GMT.
