Nigerian police said on Tuesday that two oil pipelines that feed the Brass Terminal Port which is operated by Italian energy company Eni, were recently blown up by explosives.
Brass Terminal Port is one of the major onshore crude grades, and the terminal has a capacity to export approximately 200 000 barrels of oil per day.
Asinim Butswat, spokesperson for the police in Bayelsa State, south of Nigeria, says in a statement that a trunk line carrying crude to Brass Terminal at Etiama from Omoku in River State was blown up on 30 July.
An improvised explosive device blew up another pipeline at Obama Tekere River- which also supplies the terminal- on 11 August.
“Four suspects have been arrested after a gun battle with police,” says Butswat.
Disruptions to oil production are common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, where pipelines are often vandalised and crude stolen for illegal refining.
Eni, the energy company, has yet to comment on the issue. Its exports were under force majeure in March after a blast on another Brass pipeline.
