Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria’s Trans Forcados oil pipeline reportedly restarted operations on Friday.
The pipeline which was shut down last week due to fire near the pipeline, is now flowing, Reuters quoted an unnamed source.
Forcados exports roughly 240,000 barrels a day.
Royal Dutch Shell manages the crude export terminal, while Heritage Energy operates the pipeline.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited last week announced the shut down of the facility following the discovery of leaks on a pipeline in Delta State.
The SPDC said that it confirmed four leak points on its 24” Trans-Ramos Pipeline in the swamps of western Niger Delta.
The pipeline, which supplies crude oil to the Forcados export terminal, has a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day.
According to a statement by a Shell’s spokesperson, as soon as the leaks were noticed on April 24, the SPDC immediately shut down production, deployed containment booms and mobilised its oil spill response teams to clean the sites.
It said, “These measures, which are according to the SPDC’s standard operating procedures, successfully stopped and contained the spill.
“In line with Nigerian oil and gas industry regulations, a joint investigation visit team comprising security and regulatory agencies as well as community representatives and the SPDC personnel was constituted and deployed in the sites.”
The company said the JIV team confirmed four leak points on the pipeline and identified the impacted areas in Odimodi community, Delta State.
According to the statement, the cause of the leaks is yet to be determined and the SPDC is working on further site preparation and mobilisation of specialised equipment to the swamps for safe excavation of the pipeline for inspection.
“The JIV team is expected to return to the sites as soon as possible to complete the investigation process,” it added.
The shutdown of the Trans-Ramos pipeline followed the declaration of force majeure by the oil major on exports of Bonny Light crude, one of the country’s major sources of oil revenue, last week.