Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
Barely four days after Shell shut down the Trans Nigeria Pipeline (TNP) that feeds Bonny Light crude oil to the export terminal, the company said it had reopened the pipeline.
The pipeline, which has the capacity to carry 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was closed on May 12 following a leak caused by attempted theft.
Reuters quoted a Shell’s spokeswoman as saying that the pipeline has been reopened.
Shell has said it did not declare force majeure on loadings.
Nigeria lost about $35.139 million since the pipeline, which is one of the two major crude oil export pipelines in the eastern Niger Delta was shut down.
The company had shut down the pipeline on May 12, but did not say when it would be reopened.
The Trans Niger Pipeline is critical to Nigeria’s crude export as it carries Nigeria’s crude oil, Bonny Light, to an export terminal.
The Trans Niger Pipeline, according to Shell, transports around 180,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the Bonny Export Terminal and is part of the gas liquids evacuation infrastructure, critical for continued domestic power generation and liquefied gas exports.
The Central Bank of Nigeria puts the average price for Bonny Light at $65.07 per barrel and for every day that the pipeline is shut, Nigeria will be losing a minimum of $11.713 million.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had a couple of weeks ago lamented the recent increase in the attack on crude oil and gas pipelines across the country, stating that the country is losing about 60,000 barrels of crude oil and condensates daily whenever there is a pipeline break.
The NNPC had also stated that over 50 attacks were launched by vandals on the nation’s crude oil and gas pipelines in the last six months.
Following what it described as “series of leaks” in the Trans Forcados Pipeline, Shell had also declared force majeure on Forcados crude oil stream, effectively disrupting the export of 189,000 barrels per day.
The Trans Forcados Pipeline, which is owned and operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the NNPC is the main pipeline that transports crude oil produced by Shell and other third parties in the western Niger Delta to the Forcados Export Terminal in Delta State.
Before the declaration of the force majeure, which frees Shell from contractual obligations to its customers, 189,000 barrels per day of Forcados crude were scheduled for export in six cargoes for the month of May, while 158,000 barrels per day were scheduled for June.