The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd has shut down the Imo River Trunkline following the discovery of several crude thefts from the facility
Shell spokesman, Tony Okonedo, said that production of 25,000 bpd was currently deferred.
According to the Daily Trust, Shell initially closed producing stations and isolated the line on October 31 when it first discovered leaking.
A further leak of the remaining oil in the pipeline occurred around eight days later, when more crude theft connections were made, not all of them successfully.
Okonedo said that six crude theft points had been confirmed on the 12-inch trunkline so far. Half of these have been repaired.
All but one of 26 spills in the Imo River area this year have been the result of sabotage and almost 3,000 barrels have been spilt into the surrounding environment.
"Ground visits showed that the oil had impacted rivers and other water bodies even as we have managed to deploy containment booms and are now starting to recover spilled crude," said Shell's vice president for HSE and corporate affairs, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tony Attah.
"The evidence is clear for all to see, that crude theft is bad for Nigeria, bad for the people, bad for the environment and bad for our business."
Imo River Trunkline is part of the Trans Niger Pipeline which has also recently had theft valves attached in Mogho.
The line has now been reopened following the closure of the two valves.
