By Adedapo Adesanya
Eni, the parent company of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), has declared a force majeure on expected oil output at its Brass terminal in Yenagoa. This means a shortfall of 25,000 barrels of crude oil and 13 million standard cubic metres of gas per day from the terminal.
A force majeure is a legal clause in contracts that absolves firms from legal liabilities due to circumstances beyond their control.
“An incident occurred on the Ogoda/Brass 24 oil line at Okparatubo in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa. The incident was caused by a blast, consequently causing a spill.
“All wells connected to that pipeline were immediately shut whilst river booms and containment barges were mobilised to reduce the impact of the spill.
“Regulators for inspection visit and repair teams have also been activated. The Federal Government, Bayelsa and security authorities were notified,” Eni said in a statement.
The blast, which occurred a couple of days ago resulted from an attack on the facility, Eni stated.
It was the second attack in the last three weeks after a similar incident on February 28 at Eni’s Obama flow station.
The Obama incident led to a production shortfall of 5,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“Force Majeure has been declared at Brass terminal, Bonny NLNG and Okpai Power Plant,’’ Eni stressed.
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) confirmed that Joint Investigative Visits on the two incidents had been conducted.
It said that field officers assigned to the visits had not filed their reports, however.
Equally, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC – a local subsidiary of Shell Plc, on Monday declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude oil exports on Monday.
These disruptions mean Nigeria will not be able to meet up to expectations for its crude production for March under the agreement with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies known collectively as OPEC+.
Dipo Olowookere