Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited has disclosed that it was utilizing High Definition (HD) cameras to track vandalism of the SPDC joint venture assets.
According to the SPDC’s General Manager, Igo Weli, the cameras would help in quick detection of and response to crude oil spills from its facilities. Weli said that the cameras were attached to specialised helicopters, which carry out daily overflight over their facilities. He said this measure was to improve the surveillance of Shell’s joint venture assets.
Speaking at a workshop for journalists in Warri, Delta State, Weli said, “The cameras are attached to specialised helicopters, which carry out daily overflight over our facilities. This measure has improved the surveillance of our joint venture assets.”
[READ MORE: Shell’s OML 11: FG ordered to renew licence for 20 years]
The SPDC has reportedly implemented anti-theft protection mechanisms on key infrastructures, such as wellheads, manifolds to stem constant attacks from vandals and thereby preventing and minimising sabotage-related spills.
The need for surveillance: Weli stated that the need for the extra surveillance was borne out of the company’s daily loss of over 11,000 barrels of oil per day in 2018 and the threat to the integrity of the joint venture assets.
As part of the ongoing plans to sustain security, Weli announced that there would be collaborations with community leaders, traditional rulers, civil society and state governments in the Niger Delta to implement several initiatives and partnerships to raise awareness on the negative impact of crude oil theft and illegal oil refining.
“Such public enlightenment programmes on the negative impact to people and the environment help to build greater trust in spill response and clean-up processes.”
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What you should know: SPDC’s Oil Mineral Lease (OML) 11 licence was recently approved by the Federal High Court to be granted by the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The renewal is expected to last for 20 years.
