Whenever a pipeline is vandalised in Nigeria many count this as one of those things. But there is one pipeline vandalisation you should be worried about. The Trans Forcados Pipeline and this is why.
The Trans Forcados pipeline which has just recently being vandalised is responsible for over 50 per cent of the country’s gas supply. This according to reports accounts for the reason why Nigeria is experiencing so much power supply shortfall. Trans-Forcados Pipeline, which is used by E & P companies operating in the Western Niger Delta to transport crude oil to the 400,000 barrels per day capacity Forcados export terminal also transports gas.
Apart from loss of thousand’s of barrel a day whenever it is vandalised, about 1000 million cubic feet per day of gas are also starving power plants that rely on them to survive. Gas supply is highly required to power close to 70% of the power generating plants in Nigeria and as such a shortage in supply is highly detrimental to electricity stability in Nigeria.
If you sitting in your living room or office unhappy about the power supply situation in the country, then this counts as one of the major reasons. This pipeline is the accounts for 50% of gas transported and now that it is down, power supply will get worse. Surely, there are other reasons for poor power supply but what makes supply so chronic now is the fact that we are generating at well below our already meagre capacity.
Earlier in the year the pipeline was vandalised about four times in January alone and whenever this pipeline is out, we lose gas production from Oben, Sapele, Oredo and Utorogun and that immediately accounts for almost 40-50 per cent of our entire gas production in the country. Analysts also say it takes about four to five days to get repaired depending on the extent of damage done.
The question that comes to mind now is if such a pipeline is crucial to power supply stability in Nigeria, why then is it not made a national security issue and given the utmost protection it should attract? Nigeria has more questions than answers.
