By Tife Owolabi
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigerian oil producer Oando Plc said three sabotage attacks had targeted its pipelines in the oil-rich Bayelsa state in the south of the country over the past week.
The incidents involved the 18-inch Tepidaba-Brass crude oil pipeline in the Brass local government area and the 24-inch Ogboinbiri/Obiobi gas link in Southern Ijaw district, Oando, which now owns Eni’s former unit Nigerian Agip Oil Co, said late on Friday.
The company has activated emergency response to contain the impact and deployed leak repair teams to the affected sites, a spokesperson said in a statement.
Oando said it is working with authorities to conduct a joint investigation visit to determine the extent and cause of the sabotage.
After the visit, the company will commence full-scale repairs to resume operations “as quickly as possible”, Oando said.
Pipeline sabotage and crude theft are some of the major reasons that oil majors like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and Eni have sold their onshore and shallow-water fields in Nigeria to concentrate on deep-water operations.
(Reporting by Tife Owolabi in Yenagoa; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by William Mallard)
