Angola's crude exports to hit lowest level in 13 years in June

LONDON: Angola's crude oil exports will fall in June to their lowest level in 13 years due to a shutdown at the Saturno field for maintenance, according to a preliminary loading programme and an industry source.

Knock-on effects of production issues at the Girassol offshore platform in April have also contributed to the smaller programme.

Angola's export programme so far in June is set at 38 cargoes, down from May at 48 cargoes. More cargoes could be added later, including from a new field that came onstream this month.

According to Refinitiv Eikon data, the preliminary June programme is the smallest since at least October 2006 when the data set on exports began. Currently, Angola is due to export 1.21 million barrels per day in June, below the first recorded data of 1.37 million bpd in October 2006.

Production data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that June exports could be the lowest since July 2005. Back then, total production was 1.21 million bpd and Angola has a small refinery with a capacity of 39,000 bpd.

Angola's production is facing steep declines and needs more mega projects, like Total's Kaombo block, to mitigate the trend.

But a period of near-paralysis due to a lack of drilling success, an oil price slump and a deteriorating relationship between state firm Sonangol and oil majors have put a dampener on new developments.

The west African country's oil ministry has warned that output could fall by 500,000 barrels per day to around 1 million bpd by 2023.

Kaombo's first floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO), called Kaombo Norte, came online last year, adding the Gindungo crude grade.

A second FPSO, Kaombo Sul, started up in early April, adding 115,000 bpd and taking the total from Kaombo up to 230,000 bpd.

Sul is producing a new grade called Mostarda that is expected to add one cargo each to the May and June programmes.