The west African country plans to export 1.40 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in June on 44 cargoes, down from 1.48 million bpd originally planned for May on 48 cargoes.
“It’s a tiny program,” said one west African crude oil trader.
Angola is Africa’s second-largest oil exporter after Nigeria, and this year the gap between the two countries has widened to over half a million barrels.
Seven cargoes each of the Nemba, Cabida and Dalia production streams will load in June, but the program for the BP-operated Plutonio field was small.
In a repeat of the May program, Plutonio will load just one cargo in June, compared with three or four in previous months.
BP said on Feb. 25 it would shut Plutonio production in April but expected the stream to return to normal output after repairs to correct “various problems in recent weeks with the water injection system” in the field.
A trader with a company regularly buying Angolan crude said that the maintenance has been postponed to May-June and output will resume normally in July.
Angola’s exports have also been hit by the halt of exports from the Xicomba offshore oilfield, which loaded its last export cargo in March, according to loading programs.
