As bunkering surges in the oil region, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), which handles about half of Nigeria’s crude production, says it may be forced to shut down the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) which was rebuilt in 2010 with almost N200 billion ($1.1 billion) due to ceaseless bunkering attacks.
The loss is said to be about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) for Shell alone.
The managing director, Mutiu Sunmonu, who looked heart-broken said at a news briefing after an overfly by energy reporters in Port Harcourt that a shut down seems to be the last option on the trunk that delivers 150,000 barrels of crude per day.
The NCTL gathers crude from as far as Nembe in Bayelsa around the offshore through Awoba, Samba, Krakarma, Bille, Cawthorne Channel to Bonny export terminal. It is one of the two trunk-lines that delivers crude oil to Bonny for export and also helps other oil companies to evacuate their crude for export.
Numerous refineries were seen along the route with over 15 large canoes and one barge waiting with crude to be offloaded to illegal refineries.
IGNATIUS CHUKWU
