Royal Dutch Shell has awarded Saipem a $101-million contract to build a petrol pipeline system in Nigeria, which it hopes will reduce flaring and boost domestic supply to Africa’s most populous nation.
The Nigerian arm of Italian oil services firm Saipem, whose parent company is ENI, signed the deal to build 42km of pipeline to take gas currently being flared in the vast wetlands of the Niger Delta to a new processing plant.
Shell’s Nigerian unit (SPDC) said the contract to build the plant was awarded to Daewoo Nigeria last year and on completion it would process 900 000 cubic metres per day of petrol. It did not specify a timeframe.
“This is an extremely important project for SPDC in terms of our commitment to ending routine gas flaring, and consolidating our leadership position in the domestic gas market,” Mutiu Sunmonu, SPDC managing director, said in a statement.
Communities in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Africa’s largest energy industry, blame Shell for years of pollution caused by oil leaks and gas flaring. — Reuters