The Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria,  Multiu Sunmonu has stressed the need for all Nigerians to be committed partners of the country in the fight against crude oil theft and illegal refineries.
Speaking at the Partnership and Beneficiaries Network Forum organised by Shell in Port Harcourt recently, Sunmonu reiterated that the impact of the activities of crude oil thieve and illegal refineries on the environment in the Niger  Delta and the Nigerian economy was in a crisis situation.
He pointed out that this year well over 60,000 barrels of crude were being stolen from Shell’s Pipelines on daily basis, adding that the activities of illegal refineries were extremely damaging to the environment as significant proportion of stolen crude used in illegal refineries was disposed of in the environment.
“While we continue to explore how partnerships with government, communities and other stakeholders can help resolve this challenge, all of us in the country need to become more committed partners of Nigeria.  The country’s fortunes are linked with the oil and gas industry.  Therefore, we must work together to make the industry work”, the Shell Country Chair explained.
Sunmonu who stated that the challenging environment in which the company operates makes it imperative for it to continue to seek new and innovative ways of working closely with its numerous stakeholders, noted that successful partnerships result when both sides respect each other and are clear on what they want to achieve.
According to him, sustainable partnerships imply that not only are the interest of all parties taken into account but that they were able to adapt to changing circumstances over time.
In a related development, SPDC said it has reopened the 24-inch Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) for production which was shut down after it caught fire and exploded due to the activities of pipeline vandals.
The company in a statement said a joint investigation carried out by the industry regulators, communities, independent observers and the company revealed that the incident was as a result of unknown persons installing a valve to steal crude from the line.
Shell noted that as part of its continuous efforts to maintain the integrity of the line, it repaired the valve point and removed six other crude oil theft connections to the line.
It added that the 24 “TNP which was shut down in a precautionary response to the fire on the 28” TNP has also been reopened for production.
Reacting to the accusation that the company’s response was slow, the country chair, Sunmonu was quoted as saying “suggestions that we reacted slowly to the fire and spill are false.  At the earliest opportunity we quickly mobilized teams to respond to a crude theft spill on the 28” TNP on June 19.
We conducted an assessment of the risks and decided with the support of the JTF to enforce a restriction of access to the site for safety reasons.  Our response and the action we took at Bodo West were in the best interest of lives and the environment.
Commenting on the integrity of the Pipeline, Shell said “The line is operated in line with the company’s pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS), ensuring regular inspection and maintenance.
The dominant cause of failures on the TNP has been third party damage resulting from sabotage (hacksaw cuts, drilled holes etc) and illegal crude theft.  In the past three years, a total of 25 leaks have been recorded on the facility -23 two operational  pinholde leaks.  Integrity assessment including Long Range Illtrasonic Test (LRUIT) surveys, Cathodic Protection (CP) surveys and chemical injection have been periodically performed on the pipelines.