Nigerian loses 150,000 bpd, $5bn to thieves…As SPDC joint venture laments crude theft in N’Delta

Posted by admin Headlines, Niger Delta Monday, May 14th, 2012

Nigeria loses about 150,000 barrels of oil per day and $5 billion yearly,
through crude oil theft. The revelation was made at the weekend in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State, by the Managing Director of Shell Development Company of
Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mutiu Sunmonu.

Sunmonu said SPDC joint venture
suffers a daily loss of 43,000 barrels to crude theft and illegal bunkering.
According to him, the trend negatively impacts the environment, robs the country
of revenue. He attributed sabotage and crude oil theft to the cause of 11,806
barrels spilled from SPDC facilities in 118 incidents last year. This, he said,
meant an average of one spill every three days, accounting for 77 per cent of
the total spilled volume during the period under review.

While
commenting on the effects of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, the Managing
Director said: “This is a serious attack on the state the people, the economy,
and the environment.” “Since, we calculate crude theft quantities based on
volumes produced from flow stations and what is received at terminals, it is
true that additional oil is stolen between wellheads and flow
stations.”

According to him, most of the crude theft activities were
targeted at SPDC JV’s two major pipelines in the Eastern Niger Delta – Nembe
Creek Trunkline (NCTL) and Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP). The NCTL, he said, was
replaced in 2010 at a cost of $1.1 billion, but regretted that the new line is
still a 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 used the one-month pipeline depressurisation as a window to install even
more bunkering points. Since 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 on 2nd May 2012, to allow for the removal of
more than 50 illegal bunkering points,” he said.

The SPDC boss explained
that the latest bunkering activities on the TNP occurred on May 5, resulting in
fires, adding, that the line was repaired and reopened the following day. He
said as part of the company’s on-going asset management programme, SPDC JV
replaced 208km of flow lines and pipelines in 2011, in addition to the 132km
replaced in 2010. Mr. Sunmonu appealed to all stakeholders to work together to
stop the practice.

Comparing crude oil theft and bunkering during the
militancy era and amnesty period, Sunmonu regretted that the economic sabotage
was on the high side now. While commending the efforts of the security agencies,
the MD advocated more intelligence activities rather than brutal force.

-Sunwp_posts