Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Management of Eni, parent company of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), said on Thursday that the November 20 explosion at its oil field in Bayelsa State had adversely impacted crude export to the tune of 30,000 barrels per day.
The incident so far has put the cumulative production shut-ins at 180,000 at the field pending when the breached pipelines are fixed.
Recall that vandals had attacked oil facilities operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and NAOC at Ikarama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Management of Eni in an email statement on Thursday said the oil firm had declared ‘Force Majeure’ on oil exports from its Brass Oil Export Terminal.
Force Majeure is a legal clause inserted in contracts to absolve a company from liabilities arising from factors beyond its control.
According to Eni, preliminary checks at the facility indicated that the vandals used explosives in the attack, which blew up two vital pipelines, leading to shutdown of oil production from the field.
Eni said, “We confirm two sabotage events by means of explosive devices, which damaged two pipelines in the swamp area in the night between Friday 20th and Saturday 21st.
“Production was stopped immediately after the event; consequently the emergency response team has been mobilized and able to contain the spill with booms few hours later.
“Repair activity, oil spill recovery and clean-up is ongoing. Full production resumption is estimated in one week’s time.
“Impact on production is estimated at 30,000 barrel of oil equivalent daily (boed) of which Eni’s share amounts approximately to 6,000 boed.
“Force majeure was declared on Brass terminal to notify contractually the export tankers about the delays in the lifting schedule of about one week on the original plan.
“Regulatory agencies and government security agencies have been notified and are investigating.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps said its preliminary findings indicated that the attack was carried out by vandals.
Bayelsa State Commandant, NSCDC, Mrs Christiana Abiaka-Omanu, said that investigation into the incident was already ongoing.
She said the findings would form part of the statutory Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) which would include representatives of the oil firms, communities, regulators and officials of Bayelsa State Ministry of the Environment.