The drop in Nigeria’s gas export by as much as five million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCM/d) has been blamed on vandals operating in Azikoro community of Bayelsa.

The drop was sequel to an explosion in April which occurred at the 24 Ogboinbiri and OB-OB gas pipeline, the gas export feed to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant.

Idris Musa, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), confirmed the pipeline blast on Wednesday.

He said that the blast was reported to the agency in the early hours of Tuesday, noting that the damaged facility normally evacuates an average of 5 MMSCM/d.

Mr Musa said following the notification, a team of officials comprising the Secretary of Azikoro community, the Bayelsa Commissioner for Mineral Resources and representatives of NOSDRA visited the incident site early Wednesday.

He said that the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), the operator of the facility, was promptly notified of the incident.

“Due to the high pressure, NAOC was directed by NOSDRA to depressurize the facility preparatory for a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) which will follow immediately to ascertain the cause and extent of the incident.

“NAOC is already at the incident site, with the agency among other stakeholders working to contain the explosion and secure the incident site preparatory to JIV and other remedial measures,” Mr Musa said.

He said that NOSDRA would conduct the investigations in a transparent manner and pledged that its findings would be made public in due course.

Meanwhile, officials of NAOC declined comments when contacted, with residents near the incident saying they heard sounds of explosions on Tuesday morning in the area.

They also alleged that some small batteries and wires suspected to be used by the vandals to detonate improvised explosive devices were found in the area.

(NAN)