20 October 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company has been forced to shut down its Sapepe Gas plant due to vandalism of one of its pipelines.
Seplat operates the plant, which supplies gas for national power generation, for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, the Nigerian Gas Company.
Senate Committee on Oil and Gas led by its Chairperson, Senator Nkechi Nwogu, on a visit to the plant, learnt that the management of the company was forced to shut the plant due to a serious leak on the pipeline orchestrated by vandals.
Speaking with journalists after the tour of the facility, Senator Nwogu said the committee had observed bright prospects for substantial reduction in gas flaring and proper metering of oil and gas, to improve transparency and accountability in the production and sale of the nation’s oil and gas.
She expressed delight at the level of compliance demonstrated at the plant in terms of installation of computerised, real-time metering facilities for the in-take and off-take of gas.
But, Nwogu expressed displeasure that Nigeria remains second to Russia in the world in gas flaring, lamenting the huge loss in revenue the practice is causing the country.
