Nigeria’s oil production and exports were significantly reduced in 2016 as militant groups sabotaged and disrupted crude flows across the country. In this post, we are exploring several months of historical data, surfacing disruptions to oil and gas supply-chain networks owned or operated by Royal Dutch Shell.
Eqlim’s platform detected over 36 attacks by various armed groups, including the Niger Delta Avengers, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, and The Red Scorpion, targeting pipelines, refineries, and extractive areas, and disrupting crude flows to terminal facilities.
Shell in particular, Nigeria’s largest oil operator, has been severely affected with 31 incidents involving pipeline sabotages, attacks on oil fields, and worker strikes, disrupting flows at its Forcados and Bonny terminals. Since January 2016, Shell declared Force Majeure five times, the latest in May 17th 2018 on Bonny terminal. This event followed a leak caused by an attack by the Niger Delta Avengers that shut the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL). The NCTL is a 48-inch diameter pipeline with a capacity of 150,000 bpd, extending from the OML29 oil block to the Cawthorne Channel oil field, and ending at Bonny. Force Majeure on Bonny Light crude exports is still in place today, according to Shell.
While the number of attacks is significantly lower since the beginning of 2017, the situation remains tense, and operations at risk.
*Oil and Gas supply chain networks for Nigeria were co-developed with ClipperData.
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