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Oil Pipeline Blast in Nigeria (somewhere in or about Lagos)
Kills 100

Doesn't seem to be much news about this yet.

Associated Press have this:

LAGOS, Nigeria - An oil pipeline exploded Friday in Nigeria and up to 200 people are feared dead, a local television station reported.

Nigeria's Channels Television reported the fiery blast came as villagers flocked to a ruptured conduit at Ilado town outside the main city of Lagos to scoop up fuel gushing out. Up to 200 may have perished in the explosion, the station said. There was no immediate confirmation.

This is probably another accidental explosion caused by locals
breaking a pipeline to steal the oil for local consumption. It is
near Lagos, and away (as far as I know) from the oil producing
regions and terminals, so it is unlikely to affect exports. The markets
seem to have responded with a short blip in the price to over $73.

Still, not a nice way to die...

Ralph

clv101 wrote:Doesn't seem to be much news about this yet.

Yeh I know Chris.
I watched the WTI price and it didn't shift very much. I was a bit confused. So I googled "pipeline lagos oil" and all I got were stories relating to previous pipleine explosions.
Herein lay the key. All these previous stories were about explosions due to petrol syphoning by the locals- so I am assuming this is the case here also.
Not a crude oil pipleine, just a local petrol distribution pipeline.

There was a piece about it on PM on R4, they spoke to someone from the Red Cross in Nigeria who said that there are a lot of charred bodies on the ground, but that they are having trouble finding wounded as people fear reprisals for tampering with the pipeline, the word vandal was used a lot, although the interviewer did ask what made people so desperate to tamper with a pipeline in the first place.

There is a piece on the BBC news website now: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4765695.stm

Accidental explosion, yes, but accidents happen in certain circumstances. In my corner of sunny England we have several major oilpipelines and gas pipelines, but you wouldn't know it. They are underground, completely vandal proof, but of course that's not the reason. We in the rich world just would not put up with the site of pipelines crossing our pretty countryside.

aliwood wrote: although the interviewer did ask what made people so desperate to tamper with a pipeline in the first place.

biffvernon wrote:Accidental explosion, yes, but accidents happen in certain circumstances. In my corner of sunny England we have several major oilpipelines and gas pipelines, but you wouldn't know it. They are underground, completely vandal proof, but of course that's not the reason. We in the rich world just would not put up with the site of pipelines crossing our pretty countryside.

We're really lucky aren't we;~(

Of course we did put up with a petrol storage tank with a dodgy ballcock in a built up area of Hertfordshire. I suppose what I'm thinking is that the oil companies do have a responsibility to keep their facilities vandal resistant. We souldn't rush into blaming the people who were trying to make a living out of stealing the fuel. Remember this is what a Nigerian petrol station looks like:

Here we go again, six months on from the last huge incident and nothing has changed : At least 260 people have been killed and 60 injured in an oil pipeline blast in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, Nigerian Red Cross (NRC) officials say.

NIGERIA PIPELINE DISASTERS
May 2006: At least 150 killed in Lagos
Dec 2004: At least 20 killed in Lagos
Sept 2004: At least 60 killed in Lagos
June 2003: At least 105 killed in Abia State
Jul 2000: At least 300 killed in Warri
Mar 2000: At least 50 killed in Abia State
Oct 1998: At least 1,000 killed in Jesse

Part of the problem is that the oil infrastructure in Nigeria is left just lying about overground and unguarded for any passing schoolgirl to help themselves to.
photo: Gary Woods

biffvernon wrote:Part of the problem is that the oil infrastructure in Nigeria is left just lying about overground and unguarded for any passing schoolgirl to help themselves to.

That's incredibly dumb. A false economy. A bit like leaving an open bar of Lindt out on the table in front of a chocoholic like me and then expecting me not to eat any.

At least in this country we have the sense & decency to bury our oil and gas pipelines. If the Nigerians want to stop explosions ad infinitum they'll have to insist the oil co's do the same with anything outside a secured perimeter.