Nigerian oil export terminal had offshore flight line for 9 years – Reuters

ABUJA, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Nigerian officials have discovered an illegal connection line between one of its main oil export terminals and the sea that has been operating undetected for nine years, the company’s chief said. national oil company NNPC LTD.

The 4 kilometer (2.5 mile) connection of the Forcados export terminal, which typically exports around 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, into the sea was uncovered during a crackdown on theft during of the past six weeks, the NNPC chief said. Executive Mele Kyari told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday evening.

“Oil theft in the country has been going on for more than 22 years, but the scale and pace it has taken in recent times is unprecedented,” Kyari said in an audio recording of the briefing reviewed by Reuters.

Thieves often exploit land pipelines to siphon oil undetected as they continue to operate, but an illegal line in the ocean is highly unusual and suggests a more sophisticated theft operation.

Operator Forcados SPDC, a local subsidiary of Shell (SHEL.L), did not immediately provide comment.

Nigeria, typically Africa’s largest oil exporter, is losing potential revenues of some 600,000 bpd of oil, Kyari said, as some is stolen and oil companies inactivate some fields rather than feed operated pipelines. by thieves.

Crude oil exports fell below 1 million bpd in August for the first time since at least 1990, depriving Nigeria of crucial cash.

Loadings at the terminal have been halted since a leak was discovered on an underwater pipe at the terminal on July 17. Shell said this week it expected shipments to resume in the second half of October.

In August, the NNPC awarded contracts to companies, including those owned by former militants, to crack down on oil theft.

Reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Additional reporting and writing by Libby George in Lagos; Editing by Richard Chang

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