Oil Thieves Force Oil Company, Eni, To Shut Down Operations In Bayelsa

Italian oil firm Eni says it has shut down its activities in the swamp area oil fields in Bayelsa, from which it produced about 40,000 barrels of crude oil daily, over a growing wave of illegal oil bunkering.

It regretted that it lost about 7,000 barrels of its crude production daily to oil thieves in Bayelsa, a development the firm described as unsustainable, necessitating the shutdown.

Eni, which operates in Nigeria as Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) said it authorized the suspension of operations on March 22 and declared force majeure on its oil output from the facility.

Force majeure is a legal notice that absolves an oil firm of liability for failure to meet supply obligations to crude buyers due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control.

On March 3, Ikarama Community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa reported a fresh oil spill at the Taylor creek oil well which is being operated by NAOC.  That followed an earlier oil spill which began on February 20 at NAOC’s pipeline network in neighboring Kalaba Community in Yenagoa.

A statement from the oil firm today attributed the frequent spills to oil theft by vandals, adding that it had decided to shut down to prevent further damage to the environment.

“Eni confirms that during the night between 21 and 22 March, the company has declared force majeure and ordered the closure of its onshore activities in the Swamp Area, located in the Bayelsa State in Nigeria.”

It said the decision was made due to the intensified bunkering, consisting in the sabotage of pipelines and the theft of crude oil, which has recently reached unsustainable levels regarding both personal safety and damage to the environment.

“Sustainability is for Eni a priority in Nigeria, as in all the countries in which it operates,” it stated.  “Eni has always promoted and carried out in the country several social and environmental initiatives in co-operation with national and local authorities.”

It will  be recalled Shell Petroleum Development Company, Nigeria’s largest oil producer had similarly threatened to shut its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft through its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

Mr Mutiu Sumonu, the Managing Director of SPDC, on March 4th, urged the Joint Task Force to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, which currently stands at about 60,000.