Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, June 27 -- Chevron Corp. declared force majeure at its Escravos oil facility in Nigeria because of production losses that will delay some cargo shipments.
The move came after Nigerian militants blew up a key oil supply pipeline last week operated by Chevron that cut output by a reported 120,000 b/d at Escravos.
A Chevron spokeswoman confirmed the attack, but did not disclose any exact losses in throughput. She said the company had declared force majeure because production losses will result in delayed loading of a few cargoes at the terminal.
There was no statement when force majeure might be lifted.
Meanwhile, militants in Nigeria have released several sets of hostages taken in recent attacks, including the 11-man crew of the Lourdes Tide, a Chevron Corp. supply vessel, which was hijacked on May 13 in the Niger Delta.
In addition to the crew of the Lourdes Tide—nine Nigerians, a Portuguese and a Ukrainian—also released were a Pakistani and a Maltese working for Texas drilling company Lonestar, who were abducted on May 23.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].