Nigeria shuts two refineries after pipeline sabotage

Nigeria's state-run oil firm has shut two refineries in the southern city of Port Harcourt and Kaduna in the north because sabotage to crude pipelines.

The plants were shut on Sunday because of "breaches" to the Bonny-Okrika supply line to Port Harcourt and the Escravos-Warri pipeline to Kaduna, the company said in an emailed statement. ??

Nigeria's minister of power Babatunde Fashola said yesterday the country was losing some US$2.3 million/d to attacks on gas facilities and lost electricity production. ??

Supporters of former Niger Delta militant Government Ekpemupolo, also known as "Tompolo", are believed to have been behind a series of strikes on pipelines in Delta state at the weekend. ??

A court in Lagos last Thursday ordered his arrest on theft and money laundering charges totalling more than US$175 million. ??

The four facilities in Port Harcourt, the Delta town of Warri and Kaduna have a combined capacity to process 445 000 bod of crude. They currently operate at a fraction of this capacity.

It is unclear how long the refineries will be shut.

The attacks follow years of relative calm in the country's oil-producing region after a 2009 amnesty halted a spate of attacks on oil installations and kidnappings of expatriate workers.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Business Standard, Reuters, Defence Web

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