Vandals have in three separate attacks targeted pipelines managed by an indigenous energy firm, Oando Plc, in the oil-rich Bayelsa State over the past week, a report by Reuters stated on Saturday.
According to the report, the incident affected the 18-inch Tebidaba–Brass crude oil pipeline in Brass Local Government Area and the 24-inch Ogboinbiri–Obiobi gas pipeline in Southern Ijaw District, both operated by Oando, which recently acquired Nigerian Agip Oil Company from Eni.
In response, the company said it had activated an emergency response to contain the impact and deployed leak repair teams to the affected sites.
Oando said it is working with authorities to conduct a joint investigation visit to determine the extent and cause of the sabotage.
JIV is a statutory probe into every reported oil and gas leak incident by regulators, an operator and the host community to ascertain the cause of the leak, the volume of the leak and impacted areas.
After the visit, the company will commence full-scale repairs to resume operations “as quickly as possible,” Oando said.
Recall that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, recently vowed to bring vandals to the books after a devastating damage to a 24-inch gas pipeline located in the Southern Ijaw local government area in Bayelsa state.
Lokpobiri, who arrived in Brass in the company of heads of security agencies, including the Brigade Commander and some civilian security contractors such as Chief David Lyon, owner of Darlon Oil and Gas Limited, and Gabriel Jonah, owner of Tenebo Security Services Ltd, vowed to ensure that those behind the attack are brought to justice.
After touring the damaged section of the 18-inch pipeline, Lokpobiri described the attack as unfortunate, stating that no responsible government would allow such acts to go unchallenged.
“This is a very important economic asset of the Federation, and the government will do everything possible to ensure it is protected,” he said.
“We will go after anybody linked to this crime, wherever they are hiding. We are all Ijaw people, and we know how to find ourselves. We will find them.
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.
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