Unidentified Persons Attack Pipelines at Shell, Agip Oil Fields in Bayelsa

Oil facilities operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa state were on Monday attacked by yet to be identified persons in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson of the SPDC, Michael Akande who confirmed the incident said the oil firm had received reports of the incident and shut down the facility to curtail impact.

“We have a report of interference on our pipeline about 1 kilometre from Ikarama Community in Bayelsa State. We immediately shut-in the line and we have informed the relevant regulatory government agencies and stakeholders,” Akande told reporters.

He said a government-led joint investigation team would determine the cause of the interference.

Narrating how the explosion happened, Ben Warder, a youth leader in Ikarama said residents heard several sounds from the explosions that rocked the oil fields on Monday.

“The site is not far from Ikarama, we heard sounds from the blast and it sounded like dynamites and it was not safe to go near.

“So, when the situation became quiet we had to trace what happened and it turned out that Shell’s gas pipeline and Agip’s crude lines were destroyed.

Warder said the incident resulted in air pollution from the gas pipeline and crude leak which members of the affected communities are battling to cope with.

Citizens for several years have had to cope with years of oil pipeline vandalism in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and is one of the major challenges oil companies operating in the region.

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