Aiteo, an independent oil producer, has declared a force majeure on Nembe Creek Trunk line following a fire outbreak on it, the company said.
The fire outbreak was discovered by the company’s surveillance team comprising the JTF, FSS around NCTL RoW near Awoba, on Sunday, it explained.
Aiteo produces 150,000 barrels of oil per day.
“We have been informed of an outbreak of fire by our surveillance team comprising the JTF, FSS around NCTL RoW near Awoba today, 21 April, 2019,” the company said in a statement on Sunday evening.
“Our Operations Emergency Response team was immediately activated and following its urgent intervention and containment action, we are constrained to shut in injection as well as other related operations into the NCTL. In accordance with standard procedure, we requested the other injectors to do the same,” it stated.
The NCTL had enjoyed smooth operations before this incident, raising suspicion that the fire may have occurred through an illegitimate, third-party breach of the functionality of the pipeline, a critical national asset, the company said.
The company added that relevant investigations were continuing while further information about the remote and direct causes of the fire would be communicated as soon as these became available.
“We ask our stakeholders to await further, detailed briefing in due course,” it said.
Aiteo Group is an integrated, global-focused Nigerian energy conglomerate founded in February 2008 by Benedict Peters.
The company has significant business interests in oil and gas exploration and production; bulk petroleum storage; refining of petroleum products; trading, marketing and supply as well as power generation and distribution. Its subsidiaries are Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited (AEEPCo) and Aiteo Power. Aiteo Group acquired OML 29 from Royal Dutch Shell and emerged as Nigeria’s leading oil and gas company after successfully tripling production levels.
Olusola Bello & Isaac Anyaogu
