Shell Petroleum Development Company's PAN Ocean’s Amukpe-Escravos Pipeline Project (AEPP) in Delta State, is set to boost Nigeria’s crude oil exports by 160,000 barrels per day. The company also projected an increase in gas production of about 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019, as it expands the second phase of Gbaran-Ubie development project.
Pan Ocean said its project which is scheduled to come on stream by early 2018, will also serve as an alternative to the much troubled Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) for oil companies operating in the western Niger Delta.
The company had awarded a contract for the construction of AEPP to Fenog Nigeria Limited, an indigenous company in 2011.
Speaking on the project, Senior Pipeline Engineer and Project Lead, AEPP, John Okusolubo, said: “The primary objective of AEPP is to ensure that there is no disruption to crude oil export like the scenario we experienced on the TFP over the past 16 months where there was a total collapse of crude export.
"Nigeria’s experience and history have shown that it is not wise to be highly dependent on a particular source.
"That is why we have AEPP as an alternative to TFP which has been our major means of exporting crude oil as a joint venture (JV) partner.”
Meanwhile, Anglo-Dutch oil major, Shell, said it has begun a gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in the Niger Delta. The project, according to the company, is an expansion of the Gbaran-Ubie development, which opened in June 2010. It added that the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.
