N470m lost to gas pipeline vandalism daily

ayodele johnson

January 21, 2016 6:57 AM

The losses suffered from the destruction adds more sore to Nigeria’s oil related issues

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola

Two of the country’s refineries have been shut down as a result of last week’s attack on the Nigeria Gas Company’s pipeline connected to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos in Delta State.

This has resulted in a daily loss of N470m.

The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing reports that the vandalism of the gas pipeline would negatively affect the Olorunsogo National Integrated Power Project plant, a facility with a capacity for 600 megawatts of electricity, and other power plants across the country.

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The Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Hakeem Bello, while discussing the financial and economic implications of the action on the Nigerian economy mentioned that “The sabotaged gas pipeline, which contributes to the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System, has led to a loss of 160mmsfcd of gas daily. At a cost of $2.50 per thousand scf, this loss means about $400,000 loss to the country on a daily basis (N78.8m) in gas volume.

“This is in addition to losses to be incurred daily from power generation ($1,988,223 or N391,680,000 daily). The total daily loss to the country is, therefore, estimated at N470,479,931. Repairs of the damaged pipeline are estimated to cost $609,137 or N120,000,000.”

The losses suffered from the vandalism adds more sore to Nigeria’s oil related impediment.

On a positive note, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) assured that it had put in place strategies to guarantee unimpeded countrywide availability of petroleum products.

ayodele johnson