NIGERIA: A fire has broken out on a Royal Dutch Shell oil pipeline in Niger Delta forcing some production to be shut down

Record ID: 235351

  • Title: NIGERIA: A fire has broken out on a Royal Dutch Shell oil pipeline in Niger Delta forcing some production to be shut down
  • Date: 10th November 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF COMMUNITY LIVING NEAR THE OIL PIPELINE FIRE
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime,Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVA11POIU78Z9N720LPVGMLTEB0O
  • Story Text: A fire broke out on Wednesday (November 9) on the Okordia/Rumuekpe oil pipeline in Nigeria, and some production has been shut down, said a spokesman for operator Royal Dutch Shell.
    The fire on the pipeline in Ikarama, Bayelsa State, started a day after the company received reports of an oil spill there and was still raging at 13.45 (1245 GMT).
    Shell Petroleum Development Corporate confirmed reports of a fire incident on Wednesday morning and mobilized a fire-fighting team to the site.
    A joint investigation visit planned for Thursday (November 10) to determine the cause and impact of the fire.
    But a local community leader, Washington Odoyibo, said he had contacted Shell about the Ikarama oil spill on Monday, and that the fire had actually broken out late on Tuesday night.
    He said he had received reliable reports that local youths sabotaged the pipeline because they were angry at a deal struck between the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation and the ex-militants to guard the pipeline.
    "I can say this is sabotage, because even as member of this community I can't see white and call it black because I don't like it, its sabotage because the boys are protesting that a surveillance security contact has given to BAJEROS LTD owned by ex-militant leaders through NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation), we are not carried along and the boys are bitterly annoyed," he said.
    Environmentally devastating oil spills are common in the vast network of creeks and rivers that make up Nigeria's Niger Delta region.
    In many cases oil output is disrupted by sabotage attacks on facilities and by bunkering -- the tapping of pipelines to steal oil.
    lgbudu Goodness a member of the community said local youths were angry at what they saw was too low a fee for some surveillance work they had done for Shell.
    "Since we have most facilities and no chance was given to us, this present situation is escalating from the Federal government and NNCP security surveillance deal with ex-militants," he said.
    Shell blamed pipeline sabotage for a force majeure it placed on exports of Forcados oil in October, the same month it lifted a force majeure on exports of Bonny Light after a spate of hacksaw attacks on pipelines.
    Nigeria's high-quality oil is widely exported to the United States, Asia and Europe, and disruptions to supplies can affect world prices because it is priced against the Brent oil benchmark.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
Register