Business

Shell closes Bonny terminal

Published

8 years ago

May 11, 2016

Vandals abandon 3,600 litres of petrol in polythene bags

Oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, SPDC, Wednesday, said it has declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude exports following a leak on a key pipeline.

According to SPDC, the measure came into effect on Tuesday at 1100 GMT, as the leak had shut the Nembe Creek Trunk line, pending repairs.

Force majeure is a legal term that frees a company from any contractual obligation due to circumstances beyond its control.

Read also: Nigeria needs N34.6tr fund for infrastructure in 7 years – DMO

Though the company did not disclose the volume of production lost from Bonny, it is however one of Nigeria’s main export terminals.

However, according to Shell’s website, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which runs for 100 kilometres (62 miles) through the delta region to the Bonny terminal, can handle up to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Quoting the operator of the pipeline, Aieto Exploration and Production Company, Bloomberg said at least 78,000 bpd of the firm’s crude output has been shut down, adding that the cause of the leak has not been identified.

“We don’t know if it’s an attack or sabotage,” Sola Omole was quoted as saying.

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