The Federal Government is set to re-open the Trans Niger Pipeline that transports about 180,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The pipeline was shut down six months ago due to vandalism and theft on the oil export facility.
Bonny Light, one of Nigeria’s crude oil grades, is transported through the TNP to a designated export terminal.
The pipeline also serves as part of the country’s gas liquids evacuation infrastructure, which is vital for domestic power generation and the export of liquefied gas.
But the TNP was closed by Shell about six months ago after it was vandalized. This stalled the transportation of 180,000bpd of crude via the channel.
The Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti, disclosed in a series of tweets on Sunday that the pipeline would be re-opened.
NAPIMS is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Wunti said his team visited the people of Bodo Community in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, which was part of efforts to re-open the TNP.
“Our visit today is of monumental significance as it provided us the opportunity to re-connect with the good people of Bodo Community,” he stated.
Commenting on the pipeline, he said, “Our presence today is part of NAPIMS efforts towards re-opening the nation’s major liquid hydrocarbon delivery atrium – the Trans Niger Pipeline, a critical infrastructure in the crude oil export, which has been under force majeure (closed) for over six months.”
Wunti said this was part of the company’s continuous journey to re-strengthen its trust with one of the communities where NAPIMS and its partners were conducting business.
“It is also a demonstration of NNPC’s strong commitments to its core value: integrity, excellence, and sustainability,” he said.
He said NAPIMS was able to achieve this because of the support and commitment of the leadership of NNPC, noting that the national oil firm had continued to focus on strengthening partnerships with communities, operating partners, states and relevant stakeholders.
He stated that the NAPIMS leadership delegation, under its General Manager, Joint Venture Operations, Zakariya Budawara, had spent the last one week with the Bodo community.
