FG’s war against oil theft has improved oil and gas supply through major pipelines in Niger-Delta – NLNG
Oredola Adeola
Nigeria LNG(NLNG) has revealed that Nigeria has recorded improvement in the supply of crude oil and natural gas through major pipelines, since the government and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited(NNPCL) stepped up efforts to combat theft and pipeline vandalism in August.
Andy Odeh, General Manager External Relations and Sustainable Development of NLNG, made this known in an email sent to Reuters, and seen by EnergyDay on Monday.
The NLNG spokesperson said, “We have begun to see improvement in the availability of key crude oil transportation trunklines,”
“If this trend is sustained, we expect it will support improved gas supply to NLNG once currently flooded oil and gas infrastructures become accessible,” he noted.
In August, the Nigerian Government renewed a multi-million dollar pipeline surveillance contract to Tantila Security Services Limited, a company linked to a former militant leader and Commander of the defunct Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, as part of measure to curb the loss of over 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil to illegal bunkering and theft.
Responding to the request about NLNG’s recent force majeure declared due to the impact heavy flooding in the country had on its gas suppliers, Odeh said that the force majeure still subsists, but did not provide further details on the share of operational levels impacted by the supply disruption.
Odeh further informed Reuters that NLNG Train 7 project, was 32% complete.
He added that the project when completed will increase NLNG’s output at its Bonny Island LNG plant to 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 22 mtpa.
He said, “Construction has commenced in earnest and going according to plan”.
Recall that the NNPC and the private security outfit have identified and blocked leaky pipelines transporting crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta, saving the country millions of US dollars every month.
The NNPCL Group General Manager, Mele Kyari, in a recent statement said that the collaborative effort of the security agencies and the private contractors has helped to deal with the revenue leakage problem.
According to him, the high-level surveillance of pipelines and oil wells throughout the Niger Delta’s waterways by the contractor led to the detection of over 58 illegal points from where thieves are tapping crude oil on the export pipelines.
