Abimbola Essien Nelson, Shell Nigeria’s media relations manager, stated last week that the oil terminal’s continuing renovations will be finished by the end of October because they must be finished in order for the facility to receive its full capacity of crude oil.
“We are working to remove and clamp theft points on the onshore pipelines to ensure full crude oil receipt at the terminal,” she said. “In addition to the repairs.”
Abimbola claims that Shell Nigeria has planned a program to remove active illegal connections from the pipes feeding the port first.
“SPDC gives priority to the removal of active illegal connections and to illegal connection points that have leaks. This scheduled program 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-inch Forcados Export Line which is currently not active and has no sign of leak at the interconnection point,” Abimbola further stated.
The Forcados Oil Terminal is located in the Niger Delta region with a capacity to produce 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day. However, the oil terminal has been persistently vandalized by crude oil thieves, hence the reason why it was shut and needed to be repaired.
The oil terminal receives crude oil from the second largest pipeline in the oil-producing region, the Forcados Oil Pipeline. The Forcados Oil Pipeline System transports oil, associated gas and water from fields in the Niger Delta Region.
