By Yemi Olakitan with agency report
The number of oil spills reported by Shell Petroleum, the country’s largest oil producer, increased month over month (MoM) by 100% to 12 in February 2023 from the six spills reported in the month before in January 2023.
Moreover, when compared year over year, YoY, the number of events increased by 33.3% from nine in February 2022 to 12 in February 2023.
The development which experts primarily ascribe to sabotage ended with the loss of commercial quantities of crude oil, having an effect on both the economy and the environment.
The incidents happened at various locations, including the Yokri well flowline at Yokri, the Ogale-Bomu pipeline at Kpite, the Rumuekpe Nkpoku pipeline at Ibaa, the Kolocreek-Rumuekpe pipeline at Odau, and the Gbaran flowline at Opolo during the period, according to Shell Petroleum’s most recent data on oil spills, obtained over the weekend.
Shell Companies in Nigeria have a history of reliable production, but in 2021, the combined output from the SPDC Joint Venture, JV, and SNEPCo (Bonga) decreased to 493,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 614,000 in 2020, according to the company’s Briefing Notes.
In 2021, the SPDC JV produced 383,000 barrels of oil equivalent, down from 497,000 barrels in 2020.
Reduced oil production as a result of increased security concerns, such as crude oil theft and illegal oil processing, was a major contributor to the output decline.
“Divestment actions, notably the sale of SPDC’s 30% interest in OML 17 for $533 million, resulted in lower production numbers as well.
“Crude oil theft from pipelines in the region reportedly surged in the last quarter of 2021, ostensibly as a result of rising oil prices, which made the practise more lucrative.
Production has been suspended in some regions and security risks have increased.
The Niger Delta’s operators are being impacted by the circumstance.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a quarter of onshore output was lost to oil theft in 2021, which was at 200,000 barrels per day.
With effect from March 3, 2022, the SPDC JV declared a force majeure on its Bonny export programme.
Due to theft from unauthorised pipeline connections, crude oil supply to the Bonny Terminal were drastically reduced, which led to the declaration of force majeure.
Production at SNEPCo’s Bonga field offshore in the deep seas of the Gulf of Guinea proceeded smoothly, despite certain difficulties.
From 117,000 barrels in 2020, production decreased to 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
This happened as a result of two production lines needing repairs in 2021.
The combined production of SPDC and SNEPCo during the past five years has averaged 606,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
We want to limit our participation in Nigeria’s onshore oil and gas production and concentrate future investment on our deep-water and gas locations. Shell’s Powering Progress strategy is in line with this.