The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday blamed inadequate gas supply to power generation plants on the destruction of the Forcados trunk line by militants last year.
NPDC stated in a presentation to the House Committee on Local Content that the destruction of the pipeline impacted its gas production and that of its joint venture partners.
A statement from the Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja stated that the Managing Director of NPDC, Mr. Yusuf Matashi, made the presentation to the House committee last week.
Matashi said the attack which primarily led to a loss of about 70 per cent of NPDC’s crude oil production capability also had an effect on its gas production.
“Unfortunately gas production in the region we operate is not non associated gas but associated with the crude oil we produce so by the time we shut in the oil well, we also shut in most of the gas, that is why we now see the level of gas supply shortage for power generation,” he said.
According to him, though other operators might have other reasons for the shortfall in gas supply in their domain, the damage of the Forcados export terminal supply line was the biggest obstacle to the production of gas by the NPDC and its partners.
Matashi however stated that NPDC would increase its gas production by as much as 50 per cent whenever the Forcados line came back on stream.
He also said the impact of the attack was immeasurable, and that within the last one year, the company has struggled to mitigate the effects on its production.
On the NPDC local content compliance level, Matashi noted that as an indigenous exploration and production company, the NPDC was in sync with the letters and spirit of the provisions of the Nigerian content law in the oil and gas industry.
