Nigeria: Shell Decries Crude Theft, Vandalism in Niger Delta

With a daily loss of about 10,000 barrels of oil from its pipelines to crude oil theft, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has cried out for help from government, communities and other stakeholders to stem the incessant attack on oil assets in the Niger Delta.

“These are critical national assets with 55 percent government interest and they produce the crude oil that accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and the bulk of government revenue. Hurting these assets means hurting the nation’s revenue, the economy of the states, the health of the people and the environment,” SPDC’s General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli, said yesterday at a media workshop on Pipelines Right of Way Encroachment and Vandalism held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa 12 July 2019: — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said security remains a major challenge occasioned by continuing crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas facilities in parts of the Niger Delta.

SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the media launch of the 2019 edition of the Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes, an annual publication detailing the activities of the business interests of the global energy giant, noted that the illegal activities result in the loss of 11,000 Barrels Per Day of crude oil. read more

Earlier this month, a Dutch court ruled that it had the jurisdiction and would hear a damages lawsuit against Shell brought by the widows of activists executed by Nigeria’s government after the protests in Ogoniland in the 1990s.

By Tsvetana Paraskova – May 27, 2019, 4:00 PM CDT

The Nigerian unit of Royal Dutch Shell doesn’t have any plans to return to exploring or producing oil in Ogoniland in Nigeria’s Rivers state after it ceased operations there in the 1990s, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, at the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said this weekend at the release of Shell Nigeria’s 2019 Briefing Notes.

SPDC, as operator of the SPDC Joint Venture, carried out exploration and production operations in Ogoniland from the 1950s until the early 1990s. Production ceased in 1993 following a rise in violence, threats to staff, and attacks on facilities, Shell said. read more

LAGOS, April 30 (Reuters) – Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers who were kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta region last week have been rescued, a police spokesman and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) said on Tuesday.

Kidnappings for ransom occur in much of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, but are particularly prevalent in the Niger Delta which produces the majority of the country’s crude oil.

The pair were attacked in southern Rivers state last week while returning from an official trip to Bayelsa state. read more

APRIL 26, 2019 / 11:29 PM 

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped, and their police escorts killed, in Nigeria’s restive Delta region, a police spokesman said on Friday.

The workers were in Rivers State, returning from an official trip to Bayelsa state, when they were attacked.

“The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) regrets to confirm the attack on its staff and government security escort at Rumuji, Rivers State, on the East/West road on Thursday, April 25, 2019 around 16:00 hours,” an SPDC spokesman said. read more

By Dulue Mbachu and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: 13 March 2019, 03:00 GMT: Updated on 13 March 2019, 10:51 GMT

Niger River delta wracked by pipeline sabotage, crude theft

Buhari must act now or face ‘doomsday’ later, activist says

After the military government in 1995 executed nine Ogoni activists, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, regional unrest spiraled into full-blown armed militancy in the past 15 years.

Fresh from his comfortable re-election, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari faces a huge hurdle to keep his vow to end the economy’s addiction to oil: win a lasting peace in the crude-rich Niger River delta.

The 76-year-old former military ruler will have to score a breakthrough that’s eluded previous governments in an area where armed groups and thieves pose a constant threat to the flow of crude. To carry out his plans to develop a backbone of stable power, roads and rail lines for agricultural expansion and industrialization in Africa’s most-populous nation, Buhari needs all the money he can get from oil, the source of two-thirds of government revenue. read more

An overview of the Niger delta where signs of oil spills can be seen in the water in Port Harcourt, Nigeria August 1, 2018. Picture taken August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Ron Bousso

Ron Bousso

BODO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell wants to reweight its footprint in Nigeria to focus on oil and gas fields far offshore, away from the theft, spills, corruption and unrest that have plagued the West African country’s onshore industry for decades.

But for the company that pioneered Nigeria’s oil industry in the 1950s, the Niger Delta remains as important — and problematic — as ever.

While Shell has cut onshore oil production and sold some onshore assets, it continues to invest in others. In fact, onshore production has risen in recent years as a share of Shell’s output in Nigeria, an analysis of company data over the past decade shows. read more

Nigeria’s oil wells may be flowing again, but the country’s largest operator says attacks continue to put a brake on output.

Written by Bloomberg – 05/06/2018 9:35 am

“Security in parts of the Niger delta remains a major concern with persisting incidents of criminality, kidnapping and vandalism as well as onshore and offshore piracy,” said Igo Weli, general manager for external relations at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit. The warning underlines the enduring threat of attacks even as production recovers from a major militant campaign in 2016.

Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude shipments last month following pipeline leaks, while loadings of Forcados exports were also delayed. Weli didn’t specifically link those incidents to his comments on vandalism. read more

15 May 2018

Shell’s payment of $4.32 billion to the Nigerian government in 2017, despite the closure of the 400,000 barrels per day capacity Forcados Oil Terminal, has clearly demonstrated the potentially huge earnings in Nigeria’s oil sector if security challenges are fully addressed, Ejiofor Alike reports

Insecurity of crude oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta has remained a major risk peculiar to Nigeria’s operating environment, which has continued to drive the costs of oil and gas projects in the country above the global benchmark. read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa: 21 Oct 2017

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says the degradation of the environment in the Niger is mainly due to spillages from the activities of crude oil thieves, sabotage of facilities, illegal refining and other third party interferences, rather than negligence by the company.  

Representatives of the oil multinational firm who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the 2017 West Hub Integrated Stakeholders Engagement Forum for Tarakiri/Egbemo/Oporomor communities, urged all stakeholders to rethink the destruction being done to the environment with a view to effecting the needed change.    read more

Callum Turcan: Oct. 4, 2017 5:28 AM ET

Summary

• Attacks on oil & gas infrastructure in Nigeria pose a serious risk to Royal Dutch Shell.
• Looking at Shell’s footprint in the country.
• How it has been impacted so far.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) is a big player in Nigeria, a country that has been dealing with increases in civil unrest and sporadic violence over the past few years, particularly from the Niger Delta Avengers group that wants a larger portion of the oil & gas tax revenue to go to the Niger Delta region. This is on top of Nigeria’s ongoing fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country. The ongoing security situation is a major risk for Shell’s Nigerian operations, especially as the Niger Delta Avengers have shown the ability to repeatedly target bottlenecks like pipelines and force a lot of output offline. Let’s dig in by first going over what’s at stake for Shell. read more

Shell pivots to electricity. The FT reports on the strategic shift underway at Royal Dutch Shell, which is moving to sell electricity to industrial consumers. The move highlights the potential for an oil major to adapt to a rapidly changing energy landscape. Beginning next year, Shell will sell electricity in the UK, but the company has said it would like to expand to the U.S. In the past, oil companies have declined to enter the electricity business, but with long-term oil demand uncertain, oil producers can hedge their bets by getting into electricity.

By Tom Kool – Aug 15, 2017, 3:00 PM CDT

Oil prices remain in a game of tug of war as conflicting news sends both the bears and the bulls to the sidelines.

• In 2015, the U.S. spent the least on energy in over a decade, largely due to the collapse of oil prices.

• In real terms, the U.S. spent $1.27 trillion on energy in 2015, down 20 percent from a year earlier.

• In inflation-adjusted terms, as well as in terms of percentage of GDP, the expenditures were the lowest since 2004. read more

August 14, 2017

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) remitted 29.8 billion dollars to the federation account and 1.2 billion dollars to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2002 and 2016, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, made the disclosure on Monday.

Mr. Weli spoke in Port Harcourt while reacting to the shut-down of SPDC flow station and gas plant in Belema community by angry youth.

The youth accused the company of neglecting them and marginalising their community. read more

Although Shell was forced to quit oil production in the area in 1993, the company still runs a network of pipelines criss-crossing the area

By AFP: PUBLISHED: 17:34, 12 August 2017

Hundreds of protesters have occupied a Nigerian oil facility owned by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, demanding that a local company take over its operations, a community leader said Saturday.

“We want Shell to hand over the operations of the flow station to Belema Oil Company because it appreciates our challenges and needs,” community leader Godson Egbelekro told AFP.

Protesters from the Kula and Belema community in Nigeria’s restive southern Rivers state said the community has suffered through decades of poverty and neglect. read more

Niger Delta Communities In Rivers State Shut Down Shell’s Oil Flow-Station

Members of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities in Rivers State this morning shut down operations by oil giant, Shell, at the Belema flow-station known as OML 25. The flow-station is located within the communities’ land in Kula Kingdom in Akuku Toru local government area of the state.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK: AUG 12, 2017

Members of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities in Rivers State this morning shut down operations by oil giant, Shell, at the Belema flow-station known as OML 25. The flow-station is located within the communities’ land in Kula Kingdom in Akuku Toru local government area of the state.

Some 1500 women, youths, and chiefs from the two communities marched down to the flow-station to protest what they described as Shell’s “obnoxious acts” and the underdevelopment of their communities. Raising a familiar complaint by inhabitants of the impoverished swamplands that produce most of Nigeria’s oil, the protesters said they had received no benefits from the region’s oil wealth. They demanded an end to the oil pollution that has ruined much of their land. read more

Tife Owolabi: AUGUST 11, 2017 / 11:13 AM

AKUKU-TORU, Nigeria (Reuters) – Hundreds of Nigerian protesters stormed a crude oil flow station owned by Shell in the restive Niger Delta on Friday demanding jobs and infrastructure development, a Reuters witness said.

The protesters complained they were not benefiting from oil production in their area, a common refrain in the impoverished swampland that produces most of Nigeria’s oil. They also demanded an end to oil pollution in the area. read more

The Agbada oil flow station, operated by Shell in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Photographer: George Osodi/Bloomberg

On top of that is the cost of clearing up the pollution from pipe ruptures. A 2011 UN study found that such an undertaking at Ogoni, just south of Port Harcourt, could exceed $1 billion and take 30 years.

By Paul Wallace: 20 July 2017, 05:15 BST

The Agbada 2 flow station should have been buzzing with activity, pumping crude to one of Nigeria’s largest export terminals. Instead it was idle in the muggy, mid-morning heat as Wilcox Emmanuel, the facility’s manager, shrugged in resignation about the thieves who’d shut him down.

As much as 30 percent of the oil sent by pipelines through the swampy Niger River delta is stolen, consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. estimates. That’s depriving the country of income amid a crippling recession and compounding the pain of a global price slump for Africa’s largest producer. read more

Disruption has been reduced in the oil-producing Niger Delta but violence continues to simmer and will continue to play a role in Nigerian politics, writes Ed Reed

What: Violence in the Delta has fallen since late 2016.

Why: Militants have secured a seat at the table, at state and federal levels.

What next: A degree of violence will continue but it is unlikely to return to 2016 levels in the near term.

Militancy in the Niger Delta dominated the country’s oil industry in 2016, driven by the Forcados closure, which took its toll on Royal Dutch Shell but also on smaller independents. Various groups played a part but the spotlight was dominated by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), driven by a media-savvy campaign. read more

by Tony Tamuno
26 April 2017, 12:08 BST

Nigeria detained a vessel with crew members from countries including Pakistan, Indonesia and Ukraine for alleged theft of crude from a facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the navy said.

The tanker, MT TECNE, was apprehended before dawn on April 25 while loading crude from the Afremo platform operated by Shell’s Nigerian unit, Ibrahim Dewu, a navy spokesman, said Wednesday by phone from the southern city of Warri. “They had siphoned about 2,000 metric tons of crude oil from the loading jacket before their arrest,” he said. read more

By Reuters: PUBLISHED: 12:13, 31 March 2017 | UPDATED: 13:58, 31 March 2017

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – The Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it had shut down the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which exports Bonny Light crude oil, in order to remove theft points.

The managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said the company was working to “remove a significant number of oil theft connections and repair any leaks on the pipeline.”

The line, operated by Aiteo, is one of two along with the Trans Niger Pipeline that carries Bonny Light crude oil to the export terminal. Exports of roughly 232,000 barrels per day (bpd) were planned in April, according to loading programmes, but it was not immediately clear how much of this would be impacted by the pipeline shutdown. read more

(Photo: John Li / Getty Images)

Regin Olimberio: Mar 28, 2017 07:10 PM EDT

Oil and petroleum giant Shell blamed the Nigerian residents in the Delta community for its slow response in cleaning up the two oil spill incidents in 2008. Amidst almost a decade-long effort, Shell wasn’t able to fully contain the spill. However, there is a possibility that the clean-up might start next month.

To recall, the Royal Dutch Shell admitted responsibility for two pipeline leaks that subsequently contaminated the Bodo community. Shell also agreed to a $68 million settlement after accepting the liability over the corroded pipelines in 2015. Since then, the oil spills haven’t yet been addressed. read more

By Zainab Calcuttawala – Mar 06, 2017, 4:40 PM CST

Royal Dutch Shell fears that reopening a pipeline in Nigeria will cause local separatist groups to re-bomb the facility for a third time, according to reports emerging from the area.

The Trans Forcados Pipeline, which takes 400,000 barrels to the Forcados export terminal every day, has been out-of-operation for all but three weeks in the past year, according to risk analysis published by SBM intelligence on Friday.

Previously, militants dove underwater to install bombs near the section of the pipeline in the Atlantic Ocean that they aimed to destroy. Shell brought in underwater engineers to repair the pipeline in an act of defiance against the militants and their most sophisticated attack to date. read more

By MICHELLE FAUL: The Associated Press: March 4, 2017

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nigeria wants Royal Dutch Shell to reopen one of its main pipelines but the oil multinational is resisting, analysts say, for fear it could once again be bombed by militants.

The Trans Forcados Pipeline, the main feed to the 400,000-barrel-a-day Forcados export terminal, has been shut for all but three weeks of the past year, Lagos-based SBM Intelligence said in its weekly risk analysis published Friday.

In their most sophisticated attack, militants used divers to blow up an underwater section of the pipeline in the Atlantic a year ago. Defying militant death threats, Shell flew in underwater engineers who took seven months to get the pipeline operational. read more

By Rachel Millard For The Daily Mail: 7 December 2016 

Residents of the communities in south-east Nigeria remember clearly the day oil giant Shell first arrived in the 1950s.

Children could hear the rumble of the trucks from a distance, so they’d wave at the drivers as they passed.

It still happened when King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, community leader of the Ogale community in Ogoniland, was growing up in the 1960s.

The region, largely marshland and swamps, was poor but the British firm, with its modern technology and skilled engineers, seemed to represent a new era of prosperity.  read more

Published November 09, 2016 Associated Press

WARRI, Nigeria –  Nigerian militants say they have again blown up an oil pipeline carrying crude for export from Shell’s Forcados terminal in the country’s south. It’s the third attack in eight days on the Trans Forcados pipeline network.

The first came just hours after President Muhammadu Buhari held inconclusive talks with stakeholders aimed at halting the sabotage. Militants and community leaders want development and a bigger share of revenues from oil that has massively polluted the southern Niger Delta. read more

Wed Nov 9, 2016 10:56am GMT

LAGOS Nov 9 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it was checking a claim by a group of Nigerian protesters that they had shut down an Escravos oil facility in the Niger Delta operated by its joint-venture partner SPDC.

Shyne Edema, a youth leader in the restive region, said earlier his group was staging a protest at the facility, shutting down power and water supplies as well as crude production.

(Reporting by Libby George, Ananamesere Igboeroteonwu, Ulf Laessing and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Adrian Croft) read more

By Tsvetana Paraskova – Nov 02, 2016, 3:15 PM CDT

Just two days after the Nigeria’s state-owned Trans Forcados oil pipeline resumed operations following an attack in July, militants hit the pipeline again late on Tuesday, a community leader said on Wednesday.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on the pipeline which carries crude oil and gas to the 400,000-bpd Forcados export terminal owned by Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A).

The attack led to a “massive spill, flooding a creek knee-deep in crude,” the Associated Press quoted Batan community leader Dickson Ogugu as saying. read more

HEARING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS WEDNESDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2016

EXTRACTS FROM A CONFIDENTIAL EMAIL

Subject: JCHR: Claimant in case against Shell to detail experiences in human rights and business inquiry 

More here including House of Commons Library briefings

Watch live here 

Claimant in human rights case against Shell to detail experiences in human rights and business inquiry 

The Joint Committee on Human Rights continue their inquiry into human rights and business on Wednesday 2 November when they hear from John Gbei via video-link from Nigeria. 

Mr Gbei, and members of the Bodo Community in Nigeria, filed a successful lawsuit against Shell in London High Court for two oil spills which occurred in the Niger Delta in 2008 and 2009. The case resulted in an award of £55million; Shell having originally offered compensation of £4,000.  read more

Tom DiChristopher: 26 Oct 2016

The Niger Delta Avengers resumed their campaign of sabotage on Tuesday, potentially kicking off a return to the serial bombings the militant group carried out earlier this year.

Those attacks sent Nigerian crude output to a more than decade-low and deepened an economic crisis in the Western African nation brought on by persistently low oil prices. Analysts say the government has been slow to advance a coherent response, and in the absence of an effective strategy, the conflict will likely escalate, putting Nigeria’s recovery in question and global oil supply at risk. read more

By Erwin Cifuentes – Oct 25, 2016, 5:26 PM CDT

The Nigerian presidency on Tuesday issued a statement affirming that Royal Dutch Shell will resume exports from the Forcados terminal in the Niger Delta region.

“The Shell Director, Mr. Andrew Brown, informed the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration,” the Nigerian presidency said following a meeting between Brown and President Muhammadu Buhari.

Operations at Forcados had been halted after an attack last February against the facility attributed to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). Some 250,000 to 300,000 barrels of crude were produced prior to the assault. read more

by Reuters: Tuesday, 25 October 2016 18:42 GMT

By Felix Onuah

ABUJA, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has resumed crude exports from the Forcados terminal in Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta following repairs after a militant attack, the Nigerian presidency said on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from Shell.

“The Shell Director, Mr. Andrew Brown, informed the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration,” the presidency said after a meeting between Brown and President Muhammadu Buhari. read more

Gary Bourgeault: October 7, 2016

Summary

• Debt load associated with BG Group acquisition still weighs heavily on Shell.
• With a larger percentage of its business gas, it continues to struggle to sustainably break the $3 barrier.
• EPS will probably drop by over 40 percent for the year.
• Nigerian asset sales and risks to other holdings in the nation remain a concern.
• Dividend could remain at current level if the price of oil and gas maintain a higher bottom.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) has been taking some good steps to prepare for what it believes will be a strong future for LNG demand, as it puts various pieces of its infrastructure in place around the world. It has the goal of continuing to focus primarily on gas as its major product, looking for a time when it sustainably rebounds in price.

The long term prospects for Shell look fairly solid, but it does face some significant headwinds in the short term, including the debt overhang coming from its acquisition of BG Group, downward pressure on earnings per share (NYSEARCA:EPS), prolonged period of lower natural gas prices, and the loss of revenue from asset sales in Nigeria, along with the risk in the country for other projects it still has there. read more

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: October 4, 2016

If the Nigerian government wants to fight militants blowing up oil pipelines, it should send troops into the creeks and mangrove swamps of the Niger River delta. Not the city.

That’s the suggestion of Babalola Olarewaju, a taxi driver who plies the airport route in Port Harcourt, the largest city in the restive oil-rich region.

“We’re talking about people who blow up pipelines in the night and then disappear,” said Olarewaju, 41, as he perched on the hood of his rickety cab outside the Le Meridien Hotel in the city center, referring to three T-72 tanks, Nigeria’s main battle tank, parked about a mile away. “What has a tank got to do here in the city?” read more

Punch: Uncertainty persists over reopening of Forcados oil terminal

2 October 2016

More than seven months after it was shut down, the Forcados export terminal remains offline, with the operator, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, saying it cannot tell when it will be reopened.

September 21, 2016 marked exactly seven months that Shell declared force majeure on the export of Forcados, one of Nigeria’s largest crude oil grades.

The force majeure, a legal clause that allows it to stop shipments without breaching contracts, came a week after the Forcados export line was attacked by militants in the Niger Delta. read more

Nasdaq: Shell Shuts Down Nigerian Oil Pipeline Post Fire Outbreak

September 30, 2016, 09:45:00 AM EDT By Zacks Equity Research

Integrated energy major Royal Dutch Shell plc’s RDS.A Nigerian division, Shell Petroleum Development Company, has shut down its Trans Niger Pipeline at Gio in Ogoni due to a recent fire. This pipeline feeds into Nigeria’s strategic Bonny Export Terminal.

Predictably, the commodity price slump has adversely affected Shell’s financials, particularly at its upstream unit. Furthermore, Shell’s revenues, earnings and cash flow have been significantly hurt by weak natural gas prices . Attacks on the company’s local establishments by the Nigerian militants have added to its woes. read more

By Irina Slav – Sep 27, 2016, 10:05 AM CDT

Shell’s Nigerian division has shut down one of the two pipelines that carry Bonny light crude to its Forcados terminal in the Niger Delta, saying a fire was detected “on the right of way” of the pipeline. The shutdown will take 180,000 bpd off Shell’s Nigerian exports.

At the same time, the company continues to refuse to confirm or deny an announcement from the Niger Delta Avengers from Saturday that they’d blown up a Bonny Light pipeline. Shell has two pipelines bringing crude of this blend to Forcados, and the fire was detected at the Trans Niger Pipeline. It remains unclear whether the fire is a consequence of the NDA attack or if the attack was on the other pipeline. read more

Shell says a fire has forced it to close a key oil pipeline feeding Nigeria’s strategic Bonny Export Terminal, which militants attacked last week.

The ongoing challenges are losing oil multinationals billions of dollars in what used to be Africa’s biggest petroleum producer.

SBM Intelligence risk analysts estimate that renewed militant attacks, low oil prices and weak refinery margins have cost Dutch-British Shell and U.S.-based Chevron and ExxonMobil $7.1 billion in the first half of the year, representing about 70 percent of earnings. read more

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK: 26 SEPT 2016

A trunk line carrying crude oil in the Goi community in the Ogoniland area of Rivers State became engulfed in dark plums of smoke and flames on Monday morning. The trunk line belongs to the Shell Petroleum Development Company.

Celestine Akpobari, an environmental activist who visited the site, said the inferno occurred just a few meters away from a military surveillance post. According to her, the fire immediately followed the sound of an eruption affecting the Agbada/Bomu trunk line. read more

By Chiemelie Ezeobi and Sylvester Idowu: 26 Sept 2016

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday condemned in strong terms, the renewed hostilities by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

The group at the weekend claimed responsibility for the bombing of Bonny pipeline in Rivers State.

MEND also dissociated itself from the ‘holier than thou’ and arrogant attitude of the Pan-Niger Delta Group over the proposed Niger Delta Summit convened by the federal government. read more

Published September 26, 2016 Associated Press

WARRI, Nigeria –  Shell Nigeria is refusing to confirm a report by Niger Delta militants that they have bombed its Bonny oil pipeline in the south, crippling its exports.

Friday night’s bombing breaks a month-long ceasefire between militant groups and the government and comes days after repairs from an earlier attack had allowed exports to resume.

Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo says he cannot comment on the incident.

The Niger Delta Avengers say its attack is “only a wake-up call” responding to a clampdown by security forces that it says violated the ceasefire. The military has reported arresting at least two Avenger commanders last week. read more

By Charles Kennedy – Sep 07, 2016, 11:20 AM CDT

At least one source of Nigerian oil exports is set to come back online after Royal Dutch Shell lifted its force majeure on Bonny Light crude exports.

The Nembe Creek Trunk Line was repaired and reopened, allowing Shell to resume exports of its oil, nearly a month after declaring force majeure. Nembe Creek is one of a handful of key pipelines that helps Nigeria brings its oil to the coast for export. The cause of the August outage was not reported on – the pipeline’s operator, Aiteo, said it was from a leak but did not disclose the cause. read more

By Staff Writer on Sep 1, 2016 at 12:30 pm EST

After militant attacks on its oil facilities in Nigeria, as well as numerous pipeline outages, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Forcados pipeline in the West African country is at last ready to start deliveries this month.

According to Bloomberg, Kola Karim, CEO of Shoreline Group, an energy company that uses the terminal, said operations were expected to resume in the middle of September. A spokesman for the company declined to comment on the matter. read more

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Paul Burkhardt: August 31, 2016 

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Forcados pipeline in Nigeria will resume deliveries in September, according to an oil company that uses the line.

“We are hearing Forcados is due to return at the middle of next month,” Kola Karim, chief executive officer of Shoreline Group, said Wednesday by phone from London. “It has been a tough situation for us these past couple of months.”

The Forcados pipeline system is among oil infrastructure targeted by Nigerian militants this year. In February, Shell declared force majeure — a legal clause that allows it to stop shipments without breaching contracts — after militants blew up a line feeding the Forcados terminal, which typically exports about 200,000 barrels a day. Of that, Shoreline sends about 52,000 barrels a day. read more

The Niger Delta, which largely dominates the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, did not join the league of other oil-producing regions in the United Kingdom’s North Sea, United States’ Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East’s Persian Gulf through the efforts of the federal government or the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

It was the private sector-led initiative that catapulted the Niger Delta to its current influential position in the global energy dynamics.

The NNPC, which started as the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC), established by Decree No. 18 of 1971 before the NNPC Decree of 1977 was promulgated, did not initiate the search for crude oil in Nigeria. read more

Bidness Etc discusses how militant groups are affecting operations of foreign energy companies in Nigeria

By Staff Writer on Aug 22, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A), Chevron, and other energy companies are losing hope in the Nigerian government as the safety conditions of the country are not showing signs of improvement. Although on Saturday, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) agreed on a ceasefire, the emergence of other militant groups along with low probability of a deal between the officials and the groups anytime soon has raised doubt about the country’s oil and gas sector recovery. read more

By Libby George and Ulf Laessing | LONDON/LAGOS

Oil companies and even Nigerian officials are losing faith in a deal anytime soon with militants who have slashed the nation’s oil output, casting doubt on a production recovery in what is typically Africa’s largest oil exporter.

In the six months since the first major attack on Nigeria’s oil – a sophisticated bombing of the subsea Forcados pipeline – dozens of attacks have pushed outages to more than 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), the highest in seven years. read more

By Daily Post Staff on August 18, 2016

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, says Nigeria has recorded 1,600 cases of pipeline vandalism since January.

Kachikwu made the disclosure at the 2016 Annual Conference of National Association of Energy Correspondents with the theme, “Low Oil Price: Impact and the Way Forward”, in Lagos on Thursday.

The minister also said that the country recorded over 3,000 pipeline vandalism cases from 2010 to 2015.

He said that the impact of attacks on oil and gas pipelines was that there was no money to fund the 2016 budget. read more

With the recent shutdown of pipeline owned by the energy giant in Nigeria coupled with the pipeline outages and militants attacks, we forecast a crude price rally

By Staff Writer on Aug 14, 2016 at 6:34 am EST

Following a string of attacks on its oil facilities combined with pipeline outages in Nigeria, Royal Dutch Shell (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) has finally declared a force majeure on Bonny Light crude oil. Citing statement by the company on Friday, Reuters reported that the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) was shut down after a leakage by Aiteo, the pipeline’s operator. Aiteo was unavailable to comment on the matter.

Natasha Obank, spokesperson for the company stated: “The pipeline has been shut down for a joint investigation visit into the cause of the leak and repairs.” read more

By Paul Burkhardt and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: August 10, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said its local unit has declared force majeure on supplies to a liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria because of a leak in a pipeline as the OPEC member suffers from militant attacks on energy infrastructure that are hurting exports.

“The pipeline has been shut down for a joint investigation visit into the cause of the leak and repairs,” Natasha Obank, a Shell spokeswoman, said in a statement. The leak occurred on the Eastern Gas Gathering System, or EGGS-1, pipeline which supplies the bulk of Shell’s gas to the Nigeria LNG plant on Bonny Island. Some supply continues through other pipelines, Shell said. read more

Terror-fed pandemonium broke out in the Christian-populated south of Nigeria when a renowned grouping that calls itself Niger Delta Avengers once again took to arms and destroyed several oil wells and installations. There is a grim feeling of déjà vu taking us back to 2006-2009 when militants of this region inhabited by some 20 million people revolted against the federal government demanding at least some control over local natural resources.

The previous hostilities in Niger Delta ended seven years ago with a payoff by the government in Abuja, the national capital. Central authorities consented to a comprehensive amnesty for the rebels, launched a job-training vocational program and employed the yesterday’s ‘bombists’ as guardians of the oil infrastructure they used to blast. Actually, it amounted to a monthly ’stipend’ (at that time worth some $400) paid to the fighters to pacify them and buy out peace and tranquillity in the troubled region. read more