By Adedapo Adesanya
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said the Forcados Oil Terminal would resume export operations by the end of the month when ongoing essential repairs would have been completed.
This was disclosed by the company’s Media Relations Manager, Mrs Abimbola Essien-Nelson, in a statement.
“In addition to the repairs, we are working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines to ensure full crude oil receipt at the terminal,” she stated.
According to Mrs Essien-Nelson, the active illegal connections to SPDC joint venture’s production lines and facilities in the western Niger Delta, as well as the inactive illegal connection to the onshore section of the 48” Forcados Export Line, are in the company’s ongoing programme to remove illegal connections on the pipelines that feed the terminal.
She said, “SPDC gives priority to the removal of active illegal connections and to illegal connection points that have leaks. This scheduled programme is continuous as new illegal connections are identified during the surveillance of the pipelines. An example of such an illegal connection is on the onshore section of the 48” Forcados Export Line, which is currently not active and has no sign of leak at the interconnection point.”
Mrs Essien-Nelson reiterated SPDC’s commitment to running its assets safely, reliably and in accordance with globally accepted standards.
“SPDC continues to work tirelessly, alongside government and partners, towards the eradication of crude theft from its infrastructure,” she said.
Large-scale theft from Nigeria’s pipelines has throttled exports, forced some companies to shut in production, and crippled the country’s finances.
Recently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited discovered a nine-year illegal 4-kilometre pipeline.
NNPC chief, Mr Mele Kyari, said oil theft in the country has been going on for over 22 years, but the dimension and rate it assumed in recent times was unprecedented.
Earlier, he had accused every institution, including the government and religious organisations, of being part of the dirty job. He said make-shift pipelines and stolen fuel had even been found in churches and mosques.
