Shell has delayed investment on the offshore Bonga South West project in Nigeria until next year. The project is estimated to cost $12 billion. Total has delayed the Zinia two projects in Angola. According to the newspaper, the move will give both companies time to bring down contractor costs.
Shell’s current move follows a January decision canceling the $6.4 billion joint petrochemical plant construction project with Qatar Petroleum. In February 2015 the company said oil price drops will not result in an abandonment of the Bonga South West project.
Global oil prices have dropped significantly since the summer of 2014. In November 2014, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided against cutting oil output levels, a contributing factor to an even faster slump in prices.
The June futures per barrel of Brent Crude Oil dropped to $64 this week as opposed to $115 in June, 2014.
Earlier in April, the World Trade Organization (WTO) predicted that oil prices will stand at about $60 per barrel in 2015 climbing to $70 per barrel in 2016.
