ABUJA/LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Flows of Nigeria's Forcadoscrude oil to the export terminal could be halted until April,sources told Reuters.
Pipeline operator SPDC, a Shell affiliate, put thegrade under force majeure on Feb. 21, a week after a pipelineleak forced it to halt loadings to the export platform,according to an email from the company.
Local producers have had to shut Forcados crude output as aresult, with local and trading sources saying it is likely totake until early April before the pipeline is repaired and oilproduction can resume and flow to the export terminal.
About 249,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil were scheduled tobe exported from the Forcados stream in both February and March.
Sources said that gas production associated with theForcados field could also have to close, depending on how longit takes to repair the pipeline.
Shell declined to comment. (Reporting By Julia Payne and Libby George; Editing by DavidGoodman)