Findings by The Punch correspondent revealed that work on the eastern gas gathering system 1, a multi- million facility being undertaken by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Soku in Rivers State, had stopped because of the kidnap of an expatriate staff of one of the firms involved in the project.
It was learnt that although the worker, a German, was released after 17 days in captivity, the contractors � Bilfinger and Berger Gas and Oil Services Nigeria Limited and its parent company, Julius Berger, were yet to return to the site of the project.
The manager in charge of SPDC�s major projects, Bayo Olarewaju-Alo, confirmed in an exclusive interview with our correspondent that although work on the EGGS1 had reached 95% completion level, recent kidnap of oil workers of the contracting firms had forced them to suspend work on the site.
Olarewaju-Alo lamented, �We do not know when the contractors will return and this development has the capacity to delay the completion of the job on schedule.
�The trend of kidnapping is dangerous as new investors are not likely to come while existing ones may pull out. It is painful the way things are going.
�All peace-loving Nigerians who have no other place than this country must join hands to resolve this problem.�
In spite of the suspension of work on EGGS 1, however, SPDC on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the three major communities in Rivers State that are hosts to its eastern gas gathering system 2.
The $84m project, which is being handled by Daewoo Nigeria Limited, is expected on completion to deliver at least 100m standard cubic feet of gas and associated condensate per day from Gbaram Central Processing Facility to Bonny Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas trains four and five.
The EGGS-2 is a 56-kilometre long 40-inch diameter pipeline that will run from SPDC�s gas plant at Gbaran-Ubie Integrated Oil and Gas Project to Soku where it will be linked to EGGS-1.
SPDC will pay the sum of N105m (about $780 000) to the host communities under the terms of the MOU within the period of two years when the project is expected to be completed.
The EGGS-2 will traverse 29 communities across six local government areas in Rivers and Bayelsa States in SPDC�s east and western swamps.
The Punch