The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has decried the spate of attack on pipelines and other oil assets in the Niger Delta region stressing that the country loses about 10,000 barrels of oil from its pipelines to crude oil theft daily.
The company has therefore called out for help from government, communities and other stakeholders to stem the incessant attack on oil assets.
By implication, the country could be losing about $600,000 per day at the crude oil prices of $60 per barrel in the international market.
General manager, External Relations, SPDC, Igo Weli, disclosed this yesterday at a media workshop on Pipelines Right of Way Encroachment and Vandalism held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State where the company has its headquarters.
Speaking on the crisis created by the development, he said, “These are critical national assets with 55 percent government interest and they produce the crude oil that accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and the bulk of government revenue. Hurting these assets means hurting the nation’s revenue, the economy of the states, the health of the people and the environment.
“Crude oil theft on the pipeline network resulted in a loss of around 11,000 barrels of oil a day in 2018, which is more than the approximate 9,000 bbl/d in 2017,” Weli said, adding that since 2012, SPDC had removed more than 1,160 illegal theft points on its joint venture pipelines in the Niger Delta.
In its June 2019 monthly report, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which controls Nigeria’s 55 percent interest in the SPDC JV said there was a 77% rise in oil pipeline vandalism and that 106 pipeline breaches were recorded in June, up from 60 in May.
Weli said SPDC was concerned about the lives and safety of those involved in pipeline vandalism and crude theft just as the company was concerned about the environment.
Also speaking, SPDC’s general manager, Safety and Environment, Chidube Nnene-Anochie, noted that illegal refining and third-party interference with pipelines were the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta. According to Nnene-Anochie, in 2018 alone, “third party interference caused close to 90% of the number of spills of more than 100 kilograms from SPDC JV pipelines.”
Represented by SPDC’s Compliance Monitoring lead, Temitope Ajibade, Nnene-Anochie said no spill was acceptable to the company.
