Shell has confirmed that oil export has resumed at the Forcados Terminal. This is coming ahead of the end-of-October schedule, Shell Media Relations Manager, Mrs Abimbola Essien-Nelson, confirmed this on Friday in Lagos.
It could be recalled that repair work has been ongoing at the forcados terminal for some weeks after the discovery of several illegal breach points along the oil pipeline.
The Forcados Export pipeline has the capacity to export 400,000 barrels of crude per day. The Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) is the major trunk line, which feeds multiple branches from onshore fields. It is the second-largest oil network in the Niger Delta region.
Investors King had earlier reported that Shell Petroleum Development Company will resume oil exploration on the closed Forcados Terminal by the end of October.
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 a 4 kilometres long illegal tapping on the Forcados terminal which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said might have been in existence for almost 9 years
Similarly, a spokesman of Shell Nigeria, Mr. Bamidele Odugbesan, confirmed that essential repairs at Forcados Oil Terminal are complete and export operations have resumed on October 20, 2022.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has also disclosed that major repairs are ongoing in the Trans Niger Pipeline and it will soon be recommissioned to service.
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 NNPC Limited to delay payments to some local gasoline suppliers for three months.
