LONDON (Dow Jones)--Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) Wednesday said it has called force majeure on some of its Nigerian crude exports due to OPEC's recent decision to reduce output by 1.5 million barrels a day.
Shell's move indicates that Nigeria, one of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' African members, is taking actual steps to pare production in compliance with OPEC's production cut and not simply make assertions about its intent to comply with OPEC.
Nigeria is one of a handful of OPEC members that established a patchy record over the years in complying fully with the group's output reductions, which mean fewer oil revenues.
"We called force majeure late last week," said Shell spokesman Rainer Winzenried, referring to a declaration that provides legal protection for the company not meeting its contractual obligations with customers. Other foreign oil companies are also expected to cut their output in Nigeria due to the recent OPEC agreement.
The force majeure covers exports from Bonny, Forcados and Bonga for November and December, Winzenried said. Specific volumes from Shell weren't available.
-By Spencer Swartz, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 9357; spencer.swartz@dowjones.com