Chanomi Creek pipeline blown up again?

Unconfirmed reports suggested militant activity might have been responsible for the rupture, although no group has claimed responsibility.

Two major pipelines criss-cross the Chanomi Creek, one owned by the Shell Group, which transports some 130,000 barrels of crude per day for export, and the other by Chevron Corporation, which supplies crude from Port Harcourt to both the Warri and Kaduna refineries, which was ruptured.

The Warri refinery has a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day or 6.6million metric tonnes per annum, while Kaduna was installed at a capacity of 110,000bpd or 5.5million MT/p.a.

Findings revealed that technicians of the Warri refinery on noticing a drop in the pipeline pressure raised the alarm, which led to the discovery that the pipeline had been tampered with.

The development heightened fears of imminent shutdown of the plant, as the present stock of crude could only last for three days.

The rupture is coming less than eight months after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation awarded the contract for the repair of the pipeline, which was blown up by militants in February 2006.

The project was initially awarded to Zachem International at the cost of $107m, but later re-awarded to a community based contractor, Fenog Nigeria Limited, at a now disputed cost.

Militants had threatened late July, to blow up the Chanomi Creek pipeline and other pipelines close to it, to demonstrate the seriousness of agitations for greater control of oil resources in the Niger Delta. They had promised to blow the pipelines within 30 days.

Both the Warri and Kaduna refineries resumed production in February, after being redundant for two years due to lack of crude supply as feedstock.

A source in the Warri refinery told our correspondent, “The management was compelled to make enquiries on the fate of the pipeline when the technicians on night duty suddenly noticed a drop in pressure on the pipeline at WRPC’s end. It was thereafter discovered that the pipeline had ruptured somewhere in the creeks of Warri South-West LGA of the state.

“As am talking to you now, we are no longer receiving crude oil through the Chanomi Creeks pipeline in WRPC. We only have stocks of crude oil in our tanks for three days; it means we may be compelled to shut down the plant by Friday.”

Although details of the incident were sketchy, investigations revealed that pipeline ruptured in Egwa area of Warri South-West LGA of Delta State.

When contracted the Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonoma in a tacit confirmation of the incident said “I would not like to discuss a sad incident on Independence Day.”