Niger Delta militants have again blown up a gas pipeline to Escravos in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The
facility, which belongs to the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was attacked with explosives
early yesterday.
Although, no official statement confirming the incident could be obtained from either the NGC or the security task force (JTF) in the region, a dependable security source said the gas trunk-line was blown up at a portion near Warri metropolis near Ogbe-Ijoh, the administrative headquarters of Warri South-West Local Government Area.
It is feared that the latest attack could worsen the very bad gas production and supply situation in Nigeria with heavy toll on the energy generation capacity of the country.
It is also likely to adversely affect the country’s general oil export capability, which has fallen from 2.2mbpd to about 1.4mbpd due to the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta.
However, no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on the facility,
which is part of NGC’s Phase II of the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline though the
Niger Delta Avengers militia group has said it carried out most of the recent
devastating attacks on offshore oil facilities in Delta State.
The Escravos-Lagos pipeline was seriously damaged in
February by militants, leading to a drop of 3,132 megawatts (MW) of electricity
with operational difficulties for electricity distribution companies (discos)
in the country.
Militants blew up a Valve Platform, an offshore oil facility belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, located near Escravos in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, earlier this month.
The NDA later claimed responsibility for the attack, while congratulating its ‘strike forces’ for a job well done.
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