Shell fixing pipeline following Nigeria oil leak

Leak of 200 barrels of oil blamed on oil thieves, and follows huge slick in the same region in mid-December

  • guardian.co.uk,
  • Article history
Oil spill is seen off the coast of the Niger Delta
The latest leak follows Shell's vast oil spill off the coast of the Niger delta. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it is conducting reparations after detecting a leak blamed on oil thieves in Nigeria's oil-stained southern delta.

A Shell spokesman said on Tuesday evening that its Nigerian subsidiary has cut production by 70,000 barrels per day and isolated its damaged Nembe Creek trunkline in Bayelsa State.

Spokesman Tony Okonedo said an investigation showed oil thieves had installed valves at two different points and that more than 200 barrels of spilled oil have been recovered.

The discovery on December 24 came days after Shell apologised for another leak that caused Nigeria's worst offshore spill in more than a decade.

Shell's pipelines run across Nigeria's resource-rich region of swamps, mangroves and creeks. Nigeria is a top supplier of crude oil to the US.


Your IP address will be logged

Bestsellers from the Guardian shop

Guardian Bookshop

This week's bestsellers

  1. 1.  London's Lost Rivers

    by Paul Talling £9.99

  2. 2.  Atlantic

    by Simon Winchester £9.99

  3. 3.  Teach Yourself Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis

    by David Rothery £10.99

  4. 4.  Cloudspotter's Guide

    by Gavin Pretor-Pinney £9.99

  5. 5.  Cloud Collector's Handbook

    by Gavin Pretor-Pinney £10.00