Nigeria plans stable crude oil export from Bonga

There were indications that Nigeria would export five cargoes of Bonga crude in January, the same number of cargoes as December, according to the preliminary loading programme.
Three of the cargoes will be of 997,500 barrels capacity and two of one  million barrels. Also, Nigeria plans to ship four 950,000 barrel cargoes of Usan crude exports for January, one more than December, the loading programme showed.
This is the first shipping plan to be released for Nigeria’s oil exports in January. The other grades, including the country’s benchmark, Qua Iboe, were not yet available. The nations is scheduled to export six cargoes of Bonny Light crude in January, one less than a revised plan for December. The country will also ship two cargoes of EA Blend, one more than is scheduled to load next month, with one of the December shipments deferred until January, a separate programme showed.
The nation plans to export about 2.12 million barrels per day in December, unchanged from volumes in November, which hit a six-month high. Although, the nation experienced a temporary slide in oil productions that was due to floods, but the situation was quickly normalized and oil production was restored to about 2.4 million bpd.

Iranian oil shipments slightly climbed

OPEC crude oil output rose in August as Iranian shipments climbed slightly from its lowest in more than two decades and because of higher exports from Angola and Nigeria. Supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries averaged 31.53 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 31.30 million bpd in July.

The most notable trend in August is the lack of a further decline in Iranian exports, which have dropped sharply this year due to U.S. and European sanctions. Supply rose by 50,000 bpd in August to 2.85 million bpd.

Iran's crude became subject to a European Union embargo from July 1. The embargo also bars EU insurance firms from covering Iran's exports, hindering imports by non-EU buyers. More crude is heading in August to some Asian customers such as Japan, where government-backed shipping insurance has encouraged purchases despite the EU sanctions.

However, Iran's supply remains near a historic low. July's output was its lowest since 1988, when it pumped 2.24 million bpd, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Angolan and Nigerian exports, which both tend to be volatile on a month-by-month basis, climbed in August, pushing total OPEC production higher. Angolan shipments reached a 2 1/2-year high due to extra cargoes of some crude grades and completion of maintenance at the Girassol oilfield, one of its larger production facilities.

Iran offers insurance cover for crude oil shipments

Faced with problems of its customers not being able to import oil due to lack of adequate insurance for ships, National Iranian Oil Company has offered India and other countries the use of fully-insured Iranian vessels for crude shipments. The countries purchasing Iranian oil can ship supplies through Iranian oil tankers that have full insurance cover.

While Iran is one of the main oil suppliers for India, the recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe have severely affected the shipments.

 Even though India does not recognize these international sanctions, the financial sanctions have affected shipments to the country as ships carrying oil from Iran were previously insured by insurance companies from Europe.  All those international insurance companies have stopped insuring oil tankers coming from Iran.