Nigeria will lose revenue from the export of 400,000 barrels of crude daily as the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell said yesterday that it had halted crude exports from Forcados terminal because of a leak in a supply pipeline.
Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary SPDC was working to repair a leak on one of its pipelines under the sea from the terminal.
“The line was immediately shut down when we observed the leak on March 4, 2014,” Shell said, without disclosing the volume of crude exports affected.
Forcados is one of Nigeria’s main export terminals.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer, accounts for roughly two million barrels of crude daily.
Shell has blamed repeated oil thefts and sabotage of key pipelines as the major cause of spills and pollution in the oil-producing region.
Crude oil theft is a major problem in Nigeria, with estimates that the country loses some $6 billion in revenue per year.
Last month, Shell shut the Nembe Creek trunkline because of a leak, leading to an estimated output loss of 95,000 barrels per day.
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