Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc suspended export obligations on shipments of its Nigerian crude in November and December as the West African country cuts production to comply with OPEC's curbs.

Shell declared force majeure on exports of Nigeria's Bonga, Forcados and Bonny Light crude effective Oct. 31, spokesman Rainer Winzenried said by telephone today. Force majeure is a legal clause that allows producers to miss contracted deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said its members will trim crude output by 1.5 million barrels a day from Nov. 1 to support falling oil prices. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. said it will reduce crude volume in November and December shipments by 5 percent. The state oil company also canceled five cargoes this month and 7.6 shipments in December.

Shell's Winzenried said exports will be affected. He couldn't say by how much. Force majeure has been in place for Bonny Light since July after rebels sabotaged a pipeline.

Nigeria has already canceled at least two November shipments and seven December-loading cargoes, according to three traders of West African crude who declined to be identified because of company policy. One of the December shipments, a Bonga cargo, belongs to Shell, the traders said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 5, 2008 07:10 EST