Nigeria’s drive to meet its oil production quota and boost revenue earnings from crude oil got a further boost yesterday as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) resumed export operations at the Forcados Oil Export Terminal, where repair works on the pipeline had been going for some days.
The Forcados Export Pipeline, which has a capacity to export over 400,000 barrels of crude per day was vandalised by crude oil thieves, thereby hampering the transportation of crude oil through the pipeline to the export terminal.
“SPDC can confirm that essential repairs at Forcados Oil Terminal are complete and export operations have resumed on October 20, 2022,” an official said.
The SPDC had last week stated that the Forcados Oil Terminal will resume export operations by the end of this month when ongoing essential repairs would have been completed.
“In addition to the repairs, we are working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines to ensure full crude oil receipt at the terminal,” SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson, had assured in a statement last week.
The country has capacity to produce at least 2.5 million barrels per day but because of lack of investment and issue of security, it has recorded a lot of shut -in, and in some cases differed production.
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The Forcados Oil Pipeline System is the second largest network in the Niger Delta, and transports oil, water and associated gas from fields in the western delta to the Forcados oil terminal.
The Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) is the major trunk line, into which feed multiple branches from onshore fields. At the Forcados River manifold, its capacity is 850,000 b/d. Until 2012, the pipeline was operated by Shell
According to Essien-Nelson, the active illegal connections to SPDC joint venture’s production lines and facilities in western Niger Delta as well as the inactive illegal connection to the onshore section of the 48″ Forcados Export Line are in the company’s ongoing programme to remove illegal connections on the pipelines that feed the terminal.
She said, “SPDC gives priority to the removal of active illegal connections and to illegal connection points that have leaks. This scheduled programme is continuous as new illegal connections are identified during surveillance of the pipelines. An example of such illegal connection is that on the onshore section of the 48″ Forcados Export Line which is currently not active and has no sign of leak at the interconnection point.”
Essien-Nelson reiterated SPDC’s commitment to running its assets safely, reliably and in accordance with globally accepted standards.
“SPDC continues to work tirelessly, alongside government and partners, towards the eradication of crude theft from its infrastructure,” she said.