Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. loses at least 43,000 barrels of oil a day to crude theft and illegal bunkering in Nigeria's Niger Delta, a company's spokesman said Monday.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. loses at least
43,000 barrels of oil a day to crude theft and illegal bunkering in
Nigeria
's
Niger Delta, a company's spokesman said Monday.
Last year, sabotage and crude oil theft also caused 11,806 barrels to be
spilled from SPDC facilities in 118 incidents--equating to an average of one
spill every three days, accounting for 77% of the total spilled volume during
the period, Precious Okolobo, a SPDC spokesman said in a statement.
"Since, we calculate crude theft quantities based on volumes produced from
flowstations and what is received at terminals it is true that additional oil
is stolen between wellheads and flowstations," said Mutiu Sunmonu,
managing director of SPDC, which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC
(RDSA).
Most thefts have been on SPDC joint venture's two major pipelines in the
Eastern Niger Delta--the Nembe Creek Trunkline, known as NCTL, and Trans Niger
Pipeline or TNP. The NCTL was replaced in 2010 at a cost of $1.1 billion, the
statement said but the new line is still a favorite target of crude thieves.
It was shut down for one month in December last year following a spill caused
by two failed bunkering connections. The thieves took advantage of that
month-long pipeline depressurization to install even more bunkering points.
Since the restart of production in January 2012, there have been multiple trips
caused by pressure drops resulting from illegal off-take. Eventually, the NCTL
was shut down May 2 to allow for the removal of more than 50 illegal bunkering
points, the statement said.
The latest illegal bunkering on the TNP happened May 5, resulting in fires, the
statement said. The line was repaired and reopened the following day.
Shell owns 30% of SPDC and holds operatorship, while
Nigeria
's
National Petroleum Corp. owns 55%, Total SA (TOT) has 10% and Nigerian Agip Oil
Co. Ltd. has 5%.
Nigeria
, a
major oil producer earns over 90% of its foreign exchange and 80% of government
revenues from oil exports but militant activities between 2006 and 2009 in the
Niger Delta disrupted production and exports until the government granted an
amnesty to the militants. But piracy, attacks on oil installations and crude
theft are on the rise again threatening production.
Nigeria
currently produces around 2.3 million barrels of oil a day but its President
Goodluck Jonathan said the country plans to raise output to 4 million barrels a
day within a decade.
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