The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has proffered informed perspective on the reported award of oil infrastructure surveillance contract to an indigenous firm, Ocean Marine Solutions for the protection of the strategic 87-kilometre Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP), just as the Corporation revealed that it lost $800m (N244.8bn) to breaches in the Pipeline.
Under the deal, the Port-Hacourt based company, Ocean Marine Solutions Ltd., will police the 87-kilometer pipeline and bear the cost of repairs if there’s a breach.
According to the NNPC, faced with massive losses in projected revenue, stakeholders in the TFP which accounts for daily production throughput of over 250, 000 barrels of crude oil were unanimous in the decision to seek better ways of ensuring reliability and availability of the line.
“In 2018, we lost over 60 days of production due to incessant breaches on the TFP despite having a security contract in place. In terms of production numbers, this translates to over 11 million barrels of crude oil which on face value equates to over $800m in lost revenue to all the stakeholders in the matrix which includes: NNPC, its Joint Venture partners and the Nigerian Federation,’’
More than $32 million was spent this year on repairs to the pipeline after it was shut for over 60 days this year. The Trans Forcados Pipeline pumps crude to the Forcados Export Terminal, operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Forcados Oil Pipeline System is the second largest network in the Niger Delta