Suspected ex-militants blow up Shell pipeline in Bayelsa

SUSPECTED ex-militants , weekend, bombed a crude oil pipeline belonging to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNPECo, in Bayelsa State, but an official said, last night, that the company was not aware of the incident.

Sunday Vanguard was told that the bombing, Friday night, destroyed the SNEPCo oil pipeline, which supplies crude to Egbomoturu Flow Station in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state. The bombers said they blew up the crude oil pipeline because of Federal Government’s refusal to create space for them (ex-militants) in the amnesty programme.

Corporate Media Relations Manager at SNEPCo, Mr. Tony Okonedo, said there was no report of destruction of the company’s pipeline by those in the operations unit.

A text message and calls by our reporter to the media coordinator of the Joint Task Force, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, Lt. Col. Antigha, were not answered , but one “General Commander” Bosewe, who said he was calling from the Thick Forest, called Sunday Vanguard, yesterday, claiming that he sent out the boys that carried out the bombing.

Bosewe, who spoke in Pidgin English, said he had stationed his men in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers States to blow up oil facilities in the region in the next 10 days, adding that the only thing that would quench the wrath of the group was inclusion of his group of second and third phase ex-militants in the amnesty programme.

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Why we can’t build refinery in Nigeria-Shell

Mr Malcolm Brinded, the outgoing Executive Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), says the company cannot build a refinery in Nigeria because there are surplus refineries across the world.

Brinded, who is in-charge of the Upstream International unit of the company, made the statement in an interview with the State House correspondents, after a farewell visit to President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House.

The out-going Shell chief in Nigeria, who led a delegation to the State House, Abuja, said rather than build new refineries, the company was divesting from those it had interest in around the world.

“With respect to downstream, two comments there. Shell is divesting from refineries all over the world because there is a surplus of refineries; we no longer own any refineries even in the United Kingdom.

“I will also say because of the surplus of refineries available in a way, one has to look very closely whether building new refineries is a good investment for anyone not just for Shell but for countries involved.

“In today’s world, not looking at the past but where we are today, there is surplus of refinery capacity which essentially means many refineries in the world run at a loss.

“Which also means one can get refined products back again and pay very little for it to be refined,’’ he said.

Brinded said that building refineries was no longer profitable and that informed the company’s decision to invest in the gas sector.

According to him, Shell would continue to invest in the development of the gas sector, adding: “I do believe that investment in the downstream sector, especially gas sector in Nigeria, as I touched on, is very important.

“Nigeria has huge resources of gas that have yet to be unlocked and the potential to add to that gas not only in power but in other ways in the country.

“I think there are a lot of opportunities for Nigeria and for Shell in Nigeria and the potential much more than to consider refining.’’

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