Shipping operations will resume at Algeria's oil-exporting port at Skikda on Friday after better weather allowed the port to reopen, a shipping agent said.
The agent said one crude oil tanker was about to enter the port to berth ahead of loading, with two others following during the course of the day.
He said three ships would load for export on Friday, including one jet fuel cargo, one gas oil cargo and one crude oil cargo.
"The force majeure is apparently being lifted as we speak," said a trader whose company was due to lift one of the delayed oil product cargoes from Skikda.
"We expect this to be the next phone call," he said.
Algerian state oil company Sonatrach declared force majeure on Tuesday. Force majeure is a contract clause allowing a supplier to forego their obligation in extreme unforeseen circumstances.
The declaration came a day after an explosion ripped through a nearby liquified natural gas plant, but shipping agents and oil traders say the Sonatrach move was triggered by the weather-related closure of Skikda since last weekend.
"The weather is better, so some ships are loading," said a trader with an oil major waiting to pick up a cargo from Skikda. "Once these ships have loaded, then subsequent ones may be delayed as the refinery has not restarted yet."
Jet fuel market players said a Swiss-based trading house had a jet cargo currently moving into berth.
An oil major has, however, cancelled the pick-up of another jet cargo due to for end-January loading after Sonatrach's force majeure move, which also affected four naphtha export cargoes.
European oil traders expect the 335,000-barrels-per-day Skikda refinery to restart this weekend, having been closed for safety reasons since Monday's blast.
"We think there shouldn't be problem in Skikda restating this weekend, although like any refinery restart there can be a hiccup," a trader said.
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