Shell cuts oil production in Nigeria to clean up pipeline spill Filed: 03/17/2000

By Vladimir Todres c.2000 Bloomberg News

London, March 17 (Bloomberg)  Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which has the biggest investment in Nigeria of any foreign company, said it reduced its crude oil production there by about 5 percent to clean up a pipeline oil spill.

Shell cut output by 41,000 barrels a day to carry on works on the Odidi-Keremo pipeline that transports oil from Nigeria's Niger Delta to the Forcados and Bonny oil terminals. The company said it now pumps between 320,000 barrels and 340,000 barrels a day to the Forcados terminal.

"One of the valves on the trunk line was tampered with by unauthorized persons," said Mary Brennan, a spokeswoman at Shell.

The four flow stations that pump crude oil into the affected pipeline have been shut down to stop further spilling. The company, which usually produces about 750,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Niger Delta, didn't say how much time was needed to clear up the spill and restore production.

http://www.bakersfield.com/oil/i--1258836625.asp

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 18, 2000

Answers

FWIW, this article states that 5 (instead of 4) oil flow stations which pump 270,000 bpd are shut down.....

March 16, 2000

Business News, Oil & Gas

Shell unsure when Nigeria stations to reopen

Lagos (Reuters) - Royal Dutch/Shell said yesterday it could not tell when its five Nigerian oil flow stations totalling 270,000 barrels per day would reopen but added that a force majeure was not being considered yet.

"Reopening of the shut flow stations will wait until we are able to clean up the spill from the pipeline leak. Reopening is not the primary thing now," a Shell spokesman told Reuters from the southern oil town of Warri.

The spokesman said Shell was not considering declaring force majeure now despite the continued closure of the flow stations. "The possiblity of declaring force majeure is not now. We have a network of pipelines through which crude can be transported to the (Forcados) terminal," he said.

Declaring force majeure means Shell cannot guarantee to meet all its previous export commitments at Forcados. A pipeline leak on Shell's 20-inch Odidi-Keremo trunkline forced the closure on Tuesday of five flow stations, namely Batam, Odidi 1 and 2 and Egwa 1 and 2, all feeding into the Forcados terminal.

The company said it suspected sabotage because one of the valves on the trunkline had been tampered with by unauthorised persons. Shell, which pumps about half of Nigeria's oil from the volatile Niger Delta, has been a victim of attacks on its installations by militant groups demanding money.

Shell also said it had started the clean-up of the spill. A company spokesman said investigations showed that about 825 barrels of crude was spilled.

Source: The Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

http://www.gulf- news.co.ae/18032000/BUSINESS/business11.htm

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 18, 2000.