The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited says it has discovered illegal connections on the onshore section of the 48-inch Forcados export pipeline.
Shell made this known while saying it will resume crude oil exports at the Forcados oil terminal by October ending when ongoing repairs would have been completed.
The Forcados Oil Terminal, operated by the SPDC, is where the Afremo A Platform, a platform where crude oil theft has been reported, is located.
The Forcados export terminal typically exports around 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The SPDC declared a Force Majeure on oil exports from the terminal in August.
Force Majeure is a legal clause inserted in contracts to absolve parties from liabilities in the event of circumstances beyond their control.
SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson on Wednesday disclosed that the illegal connections were discovered on the 48-inch Forcados export pipeline during surveillance.
Essien-Nelson stated that in addition to the repairs, SPDC is working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines. She stressed that active illegal connections to SPDC’s joint venture production lines and facilities in the western Niger Delta and inactive illegal connections would be removed.
“This is to ensure full crude oil receipts at the terminal. This scheduled programme is continuous as new illegal connections are identified during surveillance of pipelines.
“An example of such illegal connection is that on the onshore section of the 48-inch Forcados export pipeline which is currently not active and has no sign of leak at the interconnection point,’’ she stated.
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 other partners towards the eradication of crude theft from its infrastructure,” she stated.
