Shell shuts flowstations after fire in south Nigeria

LAGOS (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Sunday it had shut down flowstations feeding into its Trans-Niger oil pipeline in southern Nigeria as a precautionary measure after a fire at a manifold.

The Anglo-Dutch giant said it had shut down some production while firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze at the Bomu manifold in Ogoniland, in the restive Niger Delta region.

‘We have shut down all flowstations that feed into the pipeline. It is a long stretch of pipeline that conveys production from (Shell’s Nigerian joint venture) SPDC and third parties,’ Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said.

‘We have shut in some production as our firefighters do all they can to extinguish the fire,’ he said.

The cause of the blaze was not known.

Reuters