Slight improvement seen in disrupted oil supplies

Although Iraqi oil production remains on hold, firefighting crews continue to extinguish oil well fires in Rumaila field in southern Iraq, reported the US Energy Information Agency Friday. Only three wells are still aflame there.

March 28, 2003

2 min read

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 28 -- Although Iraqi oil production remains on hold, firefighting crews continue to extinguish oil well fires in Rumaila field in southern Iraq, reported the US Energy Information Agency Friday. Only three wells are still aflame there.

In addition, oil operations in Kuwait are normal, with no damage reported, and Kuwaiti facilities, which had been operating with minimum personnel to maintain production, will begin returning staffing to normal Saturday, EIA said.

In the US, the high level of imports last week, including Venezuelan imports nearing "normal" levels, increased commercial crude oil inventories (which do not include the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) by 3.7 million bbl. "However, with refinery inputs relatively unchanged, inventories for distillate increased by 2.3 million bbl, whereas gasoline inventories fell by 2.1 million bbl," EIA added.

Nigerian exception
In Nigeria, unrest continues to constrain production, however. After reducing output from its Forcados terminals by 370,000 b/d Monday, Royal Dutch/Shell Group on Tuesday raised its Bonny Light output by 50,000 b/d from other fields in Nigeria, but its overall Nigerian production remains down by 320,000 b/d, and Shell officials said it still was not safe to return workers to the Niger Delta.

Production of units of ChevronTexaco Corp. and TotalFinaElf SA also remains shut in (OGJ Online, Mar. 24, 2003).

Conflicts between warring tribes, issues related to elections this month, and militant demands for more of the profits from international oil operations have resulted in fighting in the delta that has left as many as 100 people dead and numerous villages destroyed or damaged.

The total amount of production disrupted in Nigeria currently is about 800,000 b/d, reducing production to 1.4 million b/d.