Clara Nwachukwu

The West African Gas Pipeline Company, WAGPCo, may have lost in excess of $30million in revenues till date and still counting due to a pipeline break which occurred on August 28, 2012, when one of its vessels tried to escape a shootout between the Navy and a third party vessel in Lome Port, Togo.

Trying to escape the skirmish, the WAGPCo vessel dragged its anchor across the Anchoring Exclusion Zone, thereby breaking the pipeline, although it was originally anchored in a designated anchorage area before it went on the run.

Speaking at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos at the weekend, the Managing Director, Mr. Charles Adeniji, disclosed that the company was losing between $500,000 and $600,000 daily on account of the incident.

In addition, he said the company was also incurring huge costs daily, as repairs are carried out on the pipeline, even as up to 80 percent of it may be offset by its insurers.

He said, “Since we declared force majeure, (a legal clause that absolves the company from the responsibilities of losses suffered by customers), we have lost the opportunity of providing gas transportation services in revenues worth between $500,000 and $600,000 per day.

Oil vessels

“Our spending on repairs has not been easy because each vessel engaged in the services charge different rates. Each rate is multiplied by the number of days the vessel is engaged and the expertise applied.

“Yes, all our assets are insured, and the insurers will reimburse us to the extent permissible by the contract on the repair to a maximum of about 80 percent.”

Adeniji added that the management all the information required of the insurers to enable it recovers costs, and hoped the repairs would be concluded before the year ended to enable it resume operations barring unforeseen circumstances.

According to him, “We have been significantly impacted in terms of revenue generation because we have not worked since August 28th.”

Pipeline damage
The company said the pipeline was broken into 2 parts on 28 August 2012 when a vessel dragged anchor over the pipe line at the Lome T- junction, and has identified the location and the magnitude of the damage.

Consequently, the damaged pipe joints have been removed and are in the process of being replaced, while a construction barge has been hired to fabricate the replacement 6-pipe joint spools.

It added that concurrently, action plans are being developed for removing water and drying the main and the lateral lines after which gas will be introduced, and expect to commence operations before December 25, 2012.

WAGPCo, however, reiterated that the Incident did not affect marine life and the environment in Lome, no impact on the livelihood of the people, no sheen on the water surface, and no injuries sustained by any person.

Besides revenue losses and repair costs, the WAGPCo chief executive said the incident has also distracted management from other planned activities including its marketing development programmes in the West African region.