Eni restores 25,000 bpd oil export from Brass Terminal after twin blast

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

Eni, the parent company of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) on Wednesday said it has resumed oil export from Brass Oil Export Terminal after fixing damages caused by vandalism of its assets.

The oil firm said it has lifted a Force Majeure it earlier declared on expected oil output at its Brass terminal off Bayelsa coastline.

The blast led to a shortfall of 25,000 barrels of crude oil and 13 million standard cubic metres of gas per day from the terminal.

A Force Majeure is a legal clause in contracts that absolves firms from legal liabilities due to circumstances beyond their control.

A brief statement issued by the management of Eni through a spokesman on Wednesday indicates that the Force Majeure which signals the restoration of normalcy was lifted on March 18.

“Following the restoration of the Ogoda/Brass 24″ oil pipeline at Okparatubo at Nembe Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, which was hit by blast on March 5th caused by a third-party interference, force majeure has been lifted at the Brass terminal, Bonny NLNG, and Okpai Power Plant effective March 18,” Eni stated.

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had confirmed that Joint Investigative Visits on the two incidents which concluded they to sabotage had been conducted.

Mr Idris Musa, Director-General of NOSDRA had earlier those 20 barrels leaked in the Feb 28 incident while 1,249.8 barrels were discharged into the environment in the March 5 incident.

Attn Editor; Mr Domenico Spins, Media Relations Manager, in charge of African operations at Eni, who provided this response said that the communications policy of the oil firm prefers those statements be attributed to Management of the Eni rather than its staff by name.