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The Federal Government has adopted a virtual means of evacuation of crude oil that involves the utilisation of barges and trucks for the transportation of crude from the point of production to injection/storage points for eventual transportation to export terminals.
It said the Alternative Crude Oil Evacuation Systems was implemented to avoid production deferment, losses and other undesirable consequences as a result of pipeline disruption and outages.
This is disclosed in a presentation by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission on 'Stability in the Nigerian Energy Sector: Integrated Strategies for Infrastructure, Transportation and Security'.
The NUPRC said that the ACOES provides a flexible and cost-effective crude oil transportation system for new entrants into the industry, such as the new PPL (Petroleum Prospecting Licence) holders, during Extended Well Test and early production phases.
“For the new entrants, the ACOES provides a temporary solution for crude oil evacuation before the establishment of permanent evacuation infrastructure, such as pipelines or export terminals.
“Through properly laid down regulatory requirements, permitting and approval processes, documentation, accounting of produced volumes, synergy with the Nigerian Navy and other relevant security agencies, the commission has ensured safe and secured barging and trucking operations in the upstream oil and gas industry.
“Indeed, a lot of gains have been achieved through the alternative evacuation systems. The most evident is the NCTL line which recorded as much as 90 per vent production loss last year due to crue theft. In Q1 2024 alone, over three million barrels of crude was evacuated and exported through NCTL as a direct impact of proper deployment of the virtual pipelines.”
