Shell Petroleum Development Company has announced that it will resume oil exploration on the closed Forcardos terminal by the end of October.
Investors King learnt that the Forcados Terminal which was closed due to oil theft and vandalism will soon resume oil exportation after a successful repair and complete overhaul.
This new development was made known by Mr Abimbola Essien-Nelson, Shell Petroleum Development Company’s (SPDC) media relations manager.
It will be recalled that the Forcados Terminal has been in the news for oil theft and vandalism. Recently, a joint patrol of the navy and civilian anti-oil theft squad discovered several illegal tapping points along the Forcados terminal.
Among the illegal tapping points is a 4 kilometres long pipeline which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said might have been in existence for almost 9 years.
SPDC’s media relations manager stated that the company is still working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines to ensure full crude oil receipt at the terminal.
He said “SPDC gives priority to the removal of active illegal connections and all illegal connection points that have leaks. This scheduled programme is continuous as new illegal connections are identified during the surveillance of the pipelines”.
Meanwhile, Investors King earlier reported that Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited disclosed that two crude oil lines that produce a combined 438,000 barrels per day are expected to resume operations soon.
According to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, the long-term closed Trans Niger Pipeline and the Forcados oil terminal are expected to add about 500,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s crude oil output.
In recent times, Nigeria has witnessed a consistent decline in crude production and this is a result of oil theft and ongoing repair works on major oil pipelines in the country. This underproduction of crude has forced the NNPC Limited to delay payments to some local gasoline suppliers for three months.
