NEWS
Nigeria LNG cuts output after pipeline fire
Lagos , Aug 30 (LNG journal)
- Lagos, Aug 30 (LNG journal) – Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. said a leak in its main gas supply pipeline caused a fire and forced the company to reduce production from its Bonny liquefaction plant on August 26.
There were no reported injuries or loss of life and the impact on the environment was described by the company as “minimal”, said the company whose shareholders include Shell and Total.
The leak, which ignited on August 23, is in the Rumuji to Bonny section of the company's Gas Transmission System, located in the Okrika Local Government Area, which is about 35 kilometres from the plant site at Finima, Bonny Island , the company added.
“Measures to extinguish the fire were initially not successful and on August 26 the leak increased to an extent that required immediate shut-down of the pipeline,” Nigeria LNG said. “By the morning of August 27, the fire had been extinguished.”
Nigeria LNG sends its product to Europe and North America . The Bonny Island plant has three production trains, while two further trains are expected to come on stream this year and a sixth is planned for 2007.
The site of the leak, which is tidal and for much of the time below water level, is located in a remote swamp area with difficult access, the company said.
Nigeria LNG said its engineers were assessing the damage to the pipeline and preparing to undertake repairs, with minimum disruption to operations.
The company said it was also in contact with its customers to ensure the rescheduling of supplies.
Chris Haynes, the managing director of the company, said he regretted the incident, which occurred owing to factors beyond the company's control, without giving details.
He assured the public and shareholders that the incident was being taken extremely seriously and that Nigeria LNG would be working with the authorities and affected communities within Nigeria to see how such events can be avoided in future.
In the meantime, the company will be repairing the damaged pipeline, taking safety precautions and will return to full operations as soon as possible.
Nigeria LNG is a joint venture company whose shareholders are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (49 percent), Shell Gas (25.6 percent), TotalFinalElf LNG (15 percent) and ENI of Italy (10.4 percent).
