Shell Loses 130,000 Barrels Per Day Over Pipeline Shutdown

Royal Dutch oil giant, Shell, has shut down one of the largest pipelines in Nigeria, the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP,as a result of leakage.

The exploration company confirmed to Reuters that the pipeline suffered a leak as a source privy to the matter informed that the line could be offline for at least a week, shutting down about 130,000 barrels per day of production.

The leak comes just as Shell finished repair work on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line. The Nembe line was shutdown in early May after a leak was discovered.

The TNP transports around 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Bonny Export Terminal and is part of the gas liquids evacuation infrastructure that is critical for domestic power generation and liquefied gas exports.

Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, is the joint venture operator of an unincorporated JV with a 30 per cent interest in the TNP.