Barely twenty-four hours after oil giant Shell announced the re-opening of the Utorogun Gas Plant following its closure about a week ago due to a pipeline fire, the company yesterday afternoon reported the detection of a fresh fire on the same pipeline.
The latest outbreak, whose cause could not be immediately ascertained, was reported at practically the same spot where the last one occurred along the Utorogun-Ughelli Pumping Station condensate trunk-line, an official statement from the company said yesterday.
�An early aerial survey of the scene of the inferno also showed a boat burning in the area yesterday afternoon,� Mr. Aoiri Obaigbo, the company�s media executive, said. The Force Majeure declared last week on gas supplies to the National Grid has to unavoidably remain in force, he lamented, adding, �The consequence of this shut down is a shortfall of some 300 million standard cubic feet of gas to the national supply grid.�
The statement added that fire fighters had already been deployed to the scene to contend with the fire, and appealed for understanding in the light of the inevitable cut in the country�s gas supply.
�The immediate cause of fire is not known yet, but helicopter over-fly has confirmed that the fire is from the same spot as in the fire of last week Friday, 12th October, 2007 with a boat seen in flames. The relevant government agencies have been informed, and a fire fighting team has been mobilized to the area. A Joint Investigation Team comprising regulators, government agencies, community representatives and SPDC officials is due to visit the area soon to ascertain the cause of the fire and impact,� the statement read.
�In the meantime, the Utorogu Gas Plant has been shut down to starve the fire point and aid fire fighting efforts. We regret any inconvenience the shortfall might cause and will work hard to extinguish the fire, repair the line and resume supplies as soon as possible.�
Oct202007