Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has shut down a pipeline in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta after a fire and a suspected attempt to steal crude from one of its lines.
In a statement late Sunday, Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary shut down the 28-inch (71-centimeter) Bomu-Bonn trunk line after a fire there Sunday. Shell said the shutdown of the line would cut production by about 150,000 barrels of a oil a day.
Shell said a helicopter saw a burning ship nearby. It did not discuss how much oil spilled in what it described as an attempted theft.
Shell produced about 800,000 barrels of oil a day in Nigeria last year. Militancy in the region has dropped off after a government-sponsored amnesty program in 2009. However, violence, kidnappings and crude oil thefts still occur.
