LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell hasclosed the Nembe Creek oil pipeline, which carries Nigeria'sBonny Light crude to export terminals, for planned maintenancework, the company said on Thursday.
There was no indication as to whether the "short term"engineering work would affect Bonny Light exports, and thecompany would not give a timeline for the maintenance.
The Atlantic Basin market is facing nagging oversupply,meaning even a smaller export programme is unlikely tosignificantly affect prices.
May loading programmes for all Nigerian grades are expectedthis week, but roughly 25 of the total 61 cargoes of Nigeriancrude for April export are still available for sale.
For April, five cargoes of Bonny Light for a total of justover 163,000 barrels per day were offered for export. (Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)