Sabotage of our Nigerian facilities is at disaster level – Shell

 

Sunday Tribune (Nigeria): Sabotage of our facilities is at disaster level – Shell

John Ogbedu, Port Harcourt – 11.05.2008

Following recent in-cessant attacks on its production facilities and widespread theft of its crude oil and condensate, especially in the volatile Niger Delta region, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has described the situation as precarious and “an impending disaster in the oil industry”.

Consequently, the multi-national oil giant, which said it is losing a total of about 30,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft in its areas of operation in Nigeria, has cried out to security agencies, individuals, oil producing communities and other stakeholders in the oil business to tighten their security noose around oil facilities in the country to curtail oil pipeline vandalisation and bunkering.

Making the appeal in an interactive session with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Friday, the asset manager (East) of SPDC, Mr. Akin Ogunkoya, bemoaned the current high rate of oil spillage in its areas of operation, which he said has often resulted in the destruction of human lives, vegetation and aquatic life.

Mr. Ogunkoya decried the apparent general “poor policing” of oil facilities in the country by security agencies, oil producing communities and other stakeholders in the oil industry, pointing out that this duty should not be left in the hands of government alone, else the sabotage of oil facilities may invariably lead to “disaster in the oil business”.

He then appealed to Nigerians as a whole, particularly oil producing communities to partner with security agencies to fight the war against the vandalisation of oil facilities and theft of crude oil and condensate. 

Also speaking at the forum, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, pipelines asset manager of SPDC, said Shell spent about US$60,000 (N6.8m) to repair one vandalized oil bunkering point, adding that over 800 of such points have been repaired by SPDC between 2003 and 2008. 

Mr. Izuwah identified “hot spot areas” noted for oil bunkering and pipeline vandalisation to include Soku, Utorogu and the Ogoni areas of Rivers State and lamented that in some extreme cases, some oil producing communities collude with vandals to perpetrate havoc on Shell’s oil facilities located within their domain.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/11052008/news/news4.html

 

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