Blaze Reported at Nigerian Gas Line in Area Under Emergency Rule

(Bloomberg) -- A gas pipeline caught fire overnight in Nigeria’s Rivers State, the third incident in a week at facilities in an oil-rich region that’s under emergency rule.

There was a “fire outbreak in one of the gas pipelines along Soku-Abua-Rumuji right-of-way,” in Rivers State, Witness Alasia, general secretary on behalf of the Soku Kingdom, said in a statement Sunday. Vanguard, a local newspaper, reported an explosion at the facility.

The fire is the latest setback in a series of blazes that threaten to disrupt operations in Africa’s largest oil-producing country. President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency in the area following a couple of attacks on oil pipelines that briefly halted operations on a critical line. Elected officials, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu as well as local legislators are currently suspended, with a retired military officer in charge as the sole administrator.

The Soku gas facility is critical to gas feedstocks that supply liquefied natural gas plants in the Bonny area of Rivers State. Until recently, it was operated by Shell Plc, which sold certain onshore assets in the region to Renaissance Africa Energy.

Renaissance directed requests to comments to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, an LNG company owned by Shell, the Nigerian government and other oil majors. NLNG did not respond to requests for comment. 

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