Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Nigeria downplays Shell shutdown

|
|
 
  
Published: March. 11, 2010 at 9:16 AM
Advertisement

ABUJA, Nigeria, March 11 (UPI) -- The supply of power in Nigeria will likely remain static despite a decision by Shell to close two natural gas plants, Nigerian officials said Thursday.

Shell announced it would temporarily close two gas plants in the country as part of an effort to repair the Trans Forcados pipeline system.

A group calling itself People's Patriotic Revolutionary Force of the Joint Revolutionary Council claimed responsibility for attacking Shell facilities in the Niger Delta last week.

Mutiu Sunmonu, the managing director for Shell in Nigeria, said his company was "totally committed" to supplying gas for power generation in the country, Nigeria's Next newspaper reports.

"However, recent sabotage incidents have resulted in damage to the TFP and we have been unable to evacuate the condensate that is produced with the gas through this pipeline," he said.

Shell warned last week that blackouts were imminent because of shutdowns at various gas facilities. Yakubu Lawal, a spokesman for the Minister of Power, said increased production from Chevron could offset the declines from Shell.

Shell supplies more than 75 percent of the domestic gas for power generation and other industrial sectors in Nigeria.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Additional Energy Resources Stories
1 of 15
Rose McGowan at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2012 Collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York
View Caption
fark
FBI releases file on Steve Jobs which notes that he used LSD in his past. Well that at least explains...
An officer pulls you over after you stole $500 worth of jewelry. Do you a) Toss it out the window...
North Korea's iconic concrete pyramid, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, is now covered in mirrored...
Been looking for a loophole in the 5-day waiting period and background check to purchase an assault...
St. Louis man fatally shot trying to get people to sign a petition to make Missouri safer
Two men use a rolled-up magazine 'radar gun' in an attempt to pull over a motorist... who of course...