MILITANT
group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), on Thursday, blew up Chevron Nigeria
Limited’s main pipeline that supplies gas and provides electricity to the
Escravos tank farm in Delta State. This latest attack which effectively shut
down oil production at the Escravos terminal came less than 24 hours after the
military High Command vowed to sustain its onslaught against militants in the
Niger Delta, Boko Haram insurgents and criminal herdsmen across the country.
According
to a report by Reuters, the NDA has claimed responsibility of the attack adding
that the group had earlier issued warnings which were neglected.
“We
warned Chevron, but they didn’t listen. NDA just blew up the Escravos tank farm
main electricity feed pipeline,” the groups said on Thursday. The NDA explained
that the oil facilities were sabotaged following attempts by Chevron to carry
out repairs of main Escravos crude oil pipeline it blew up earlier.
Reuters
quoted sources as saying that the company’s onshore operations in the Niger
Delta had been shut down following the attack, which involved the main
electricity line leading to its Escravos terminal.
“It
is a crude line which means all activities in Chevron are grounded,” a Chevron
source told Reuters on Thursday, without elaborating. Oil industry sources said
roughly 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Escravos were gone due to the latest
attack and another on Chevron’s offshore facilities earlier this month.
Meanwhile,
the management of Chevron Nigeria Limited declined comments on the latest
attack. Sola Adebawo, manager communications and government relation at CNL,
said the oil firm would not immediately comment.
“We
are not able to comment at this time,” Adebawo said in a text message on
Thursday. Also, a Chevron spokeswoman in the United States said on Thursday
that it was against policy to comment on the safety and security of personnel
and operations.
Some of the eye witnesses confirmed the incident though did not provide details.
Some industrial experts disclosed that Escravos onshore production accounts for
roughly a third of its total output, on average 3.8 million barrels per month
(bpm) in 2014, according to the latest available data from the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation.
Meanwhile,
a committee set up by Delta State leaders warned on Thursday that a military
approach to deal with the renewed militants’ attacks may not yield the desired
results adding that the recent attacks on the pipeline was upshot of grievances
over the neglect by the Federal Government and oil companies against the local
communities.
“There
is total willingness by the communities to help the Federal Government end oil
facility vandalism provided there is a recognised platform to do so,” the
committee said after meeting local communities.
However, the Delta
Sate Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has enjoined Deltans to sheathe their swords
stating pipeline vandalism impacts heavily on the community’s environment and
the state economy as well as the nation at large adding that there are more civilized
medium of registering grievances than vandalizing the pipelines.
Okowa
who made the appeal on Thursday during his maiden radio phone-in programme
at Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS), Asaba, as part of activities marking his
first year in office said that the incessant pipeline vandalism impacted
negatively on the environment of the Niger/Delta region and the economy of the
state.
“We
have been doing a lot of sensitisation and advocacy on ensuring peace and
secured environment for our communities. We need to protect government
facilities in our areas, the vandalism of pipelines affects our environment and
the economy and development of the state more than the federal government, l
plead with Deltans to learn to protect oil facilities in their communities because
the damage causes pain to the immediate environment and to the state.
“If vandalism stops,
there will improvement to our economic growth and we will be able to carry out
infrastructural development,” he added.
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