ABUJA, May 15 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell doesnot know when its Nigerian Forcados oil terminal will reopen asthe repairs to an underwater pipeline damaged by a blast are notstraightforward, its country head was quoted as saying onSunday.
Shell shut the 250,000 barrel a day terminal in Februaryafter an attack on an underwater pipeline claimed by a militantgroup, part of a wave of attacks on oil facilities in the NigerDelta in the past three months.
Shell had initially declined to give details about theincident.
Osagie Okunbor, the head of Shell's operations in Nigeria,or country chair, told the Punch newspaper it was to early toosay when the terminal would reopen due to the ongoing repairs.
"The work is a delicate exercise that requires temporarywrapping of the damaged section of the line with a specialmaterial prior to safe evacuation of the residual crude oilcurrently trapped in the line," he said.
"The damaged pipeline is in 4-6 meters of water depth inopen seas and it requires damming the water to hold the sea backso that repairs can be safely done," he was quoted as saying.
Okunbor said Shell had needed to deploy experts from withinNigeria and abroad to do the work.
He said Shell was committed to long-term investment inNigeria despite a series of pipeline attacks or explosions whichhave reduced the country's oil production to 1.65 millionbarrels per day from 2.2 million in February.
A Shell spokesman confirmed the newspaper interview tookplace.
Last week, militants calling themselves the Niger DeltaAvengers claimed an attack on a Chevron Platform in the Delta.The group also took credit for the attack on the Shell pipeline.
The group has warned oil firms to leave the region withintwo weeks and says it is fighting for the independence of theDelta. It had earlier said it wanted a greater share of oilrevenues and an end to oil pollution.
The attacks have driven Nigerian oil output close to a22-year low and if the violence escalates into an insurgency, itcould cripple output in a country facing an economic crisis.
Crude sales from the Delta account for about 70 percent ofnational income in Africa's biggest economy but residents, someof whom sympathise with the militants, have long complained ofpoverty and neglect. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; editing by David Clarke)
