Shell’s Nigeria unit calls force majeure as rebel attacks cause pipeline leak

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigeria unit has recently declared force majeure on supplies to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the country due to a leak in a pipeline as the OPEC member suffers from militant attacks on energy infrastructures that are affecting exports.

The leak occurred on the Eastern Gas Gathering System, or EGGS-1, pipeline which supplies the bulk of Shell’s gas to the Nigeria LNG plant on Bonny Island.

“The pipeline has been shut down for a joint investigation visit into the cause of the leak and repairs,” Natasha Obank, a Shell spokeswoman, said in a statement. Some supply continues through other pipelines, Shell said.

Despite the force majeure on supplies, Nigeria LNG production and loading continue in the Bonny Island plant through alternative sources of gas supply, according to, Charles Okon, a spokesman.

The Nigerian government has resumed payments to former militants and is attempting to establish talks to end attacks on pipeline infrastructure in the oil-rich Niger Delta that have damped crude production to almost a 30-year low. Output has fallen to 1.4 million barrels a day, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Kachikwu said earlier this month.

Any reduction in LNG exports would be a blow to a country already suffering the economic effects of low oil prices and militant attacks. The NLNG project has a capacity to process 22 million metric tons a year of the liquefied fuel, or 7% of world supply, as well as 5 million tons of natural gas liquids, according to a Shell website. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. holds a 49%  share and Shell has 25.6%. Total SA and Eni SpA hold 15% and 10.4%, respectively.