The Ogboinbiri gas pipeline in Bayelsa State has been vandalised, the Italian energy group, Eni, stated on Thursday.
Eni said the rupture on the pipeline had caused a leak and production losses, according to a report by Reuters.
A spokesperson for Eni told Reuters that “third parties” had cut the pipeline with hacksaw.
“The line is depressurised and is currently being repaired. Production losses due to the shutdown are important,” the spokesperson said.
Oil and gas output in Nigeria have fallen due to theft and vandalism of pipelines, leaving gas producer Nigeria LNG Ltd’s terminal at Bonny Island operating at 60 per cent capacity.
Eni, along with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Shell and TotalEnergies own shares in Nigeria LNG.
The PUNCH reported on Thursday that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria had stated that about 600,000 barrels of crude were stolen daily in Nigeria and that the military should be held responsible for the high rate of oil theft.
The National President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, said oil theft was a collaborative crime between military personnel assigned to protect oil installations and the locals running illegal refineries.
He alleged that the military and other security agencies were aiding and abetting criminals to steal the crude with the active connivance of the regulatory agencies in charge of the nation’s petroleum industry.
Osifo, therefore, challenged the regulatory agencies and various security outfits to be alive to their responsibilities in order to solve the problems.
