Nigeria, Colombia pipeline deaths mounting

Vandalism and sabotage have spawned pipeline disasters in Nigeria and Colombia with a resulting massive death toll. More than 700 people died as a result of a products pipeline explosion and fire at Jesse, near Warri, Nigeria, last week. At least 100 more of those injured were still being treated in area hospitals at presstime, and the death toll was expected to rise. Authorities are blaming black-market fuel scavengers for vandalism to the pipeline.

Oct. 26, 1998

5 min read

Vandalism and sabotage have spawned pipeline disasters in Nigeria and Colombia with a resulting massive death toll.

More than 700 people died as a result of a products pipeline explosion and fire at Jesse, near Warri, Nigeria, last week. At least 100 more of those injured were still being treated in area hospitals at presstime, and the death toll was expected to rise. Authorities are blaming black-market fuel scavengers for vandalism to the pipeline.

Meantime, the chaos that has gripped Nigeria's oil sector of late seemed to be easing just before the pipeline disaster, as protesters relinquished the last of industry facilities to be seized in recent weeks.

In Colombia, an attack by leftist guerrillas on the country's newest cross-country export oil pipeline apparently sparked a fire that swept the nearby village of Machuca, killing 48 people and injuring 60. Although guerrilla attacks on Colombian oil industry facilities are commonplace, this was by far the heaviest loss of life to be associated with such an attack.

Nigerian blast

News reports from Nigeria about the pipeline blast were sketchy about possible causes, making it impossible to ascertain whether the source of ignition for the blast was deliberate or accidental.

What is certain, officials said, is that a group of people had left open a pipeline valve late in the prior week, followed by hundreds-estimates range to a total of more than 1,000-gathering to collect the leaking fuel, reportedly gasoline. Other reports said that vandals also punctured the line with sharp objects at various points to collect the fuel.

The pipeline, which distributes refined products from the Warri refinery, is operated by Nigerian National Petroleum Co. unit Pipeline & Products Marketing Co.

Although Nigeria is a major oil exporter, its four refineries are in shambles, either operating far below capacity or shut down, and its distribution of the small volumes of locally produced and imported refined products is spotty at best. As a result, the country experiences frequent shortages of petroleum fuels, and thievery and black-market sale of fuels is widespread.

The pipeline blast is just the latest in a string of recent incidents in which a number of people have died attempting to steal fuel from pipelines and storage tanks in Nigeria.

Targeting oil facilities

The country's ruler, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, issued warnings against further acts of sabotage targeting oil industry facilities. Such attacks, along with seizures of industry facilities in recent weeks, have slashed Nigerian oil exports by about a third (OGJ, Oct. 19, 1998, p. 38).

The government is considering placing troops on service boats working for foreign oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region, where much of industry operations-and much of the recent violence-is concentrated.

Nigerian youths recently attacked service boats there and occupied flow stations operated by local units of Royal Dutch/Shell and Chevron Corp., halting flow of 380,000 b/d and 60,000 b/d, respectively.

Last week, protesters ended their occupation of Chevron flow stations and released 34 hostages. The prior week, a similar occupation of 15 Shell flow stations in the Niger Delta region had ended after 2 weeks.

Colombian disaster

The Colombian pipeline, owned and operated by Oleoducto Central SA (Ocensa), was hit Oct. 18 by a dynamite blast that apparently ignited the crude oil, sending a fireball down a river that runs alongside Machuca, a mining town in Antioquia state.

Ocensa is a consortium of companies led by British Petroleum Co. plc and state oil company Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos SA. The 820-km pipeline carries about 350,000 b/d of crude oil from the BP-operated Cusiana/Cupiagua oil fields complex in Colombia's Llanos basin to export facilities at the Caribbean port of Coveñas.

Ocensa estimated the maxium potential loss of crude oil resulting from the attack at 30,000 bbl and has sent personnel and equipment to the site to begin repairs.

The pipeline started up commercial operations about a year ago.

While Ocensa helped coordinate an emergency response to the disaster, dispatching medical teams and supplies to Machuca, guerrilla leaders and government officials traded allegations of complicity. Although the National Liberation Army (ELN) admitted bombing the pipeline, it accused the Colombian army of setting the fire an hour later and blaming the guerrillas for the loss of life. Army officials heatedly denied the claims, citing accounts from some of the injured that the blast and fire were almost simultaneous.

The disaster casts a pall over early efforts by the new administration of Colombian President Andres Pastrana to negotiate with guerrilla factions a peace settlement aimed at ending decades of armed conflict in Colombia. Diplomatic contacts by the government and guerrilla leaders with outside nations in recent months have been aimed at establishing a starting point for negotiations between the two sides.

About 60 attacks on Colombian oil industry facilities have been recorded this year alone, and more than 750 attacks have occurred in the past decade. Most of these attacks have targeted Colombia's crude oil export pipeline from the Caño Limón oil field complex in the Llanos basin to Coveñas-which started up in the mid-1980s-where such attacks have occurred on an almost weekly basis.