Two oil pipelines that supply the Brass export terminal, one of Nigeria's export routes run by the Italian company Eni, were bombed.
One of the main onshore crude grades is brass, and the terminal has a daily export capability of about 200,000 barrels.
According to a statement from Asinim Butswat, spokesman for the Bayelsa state police, a trunkline carrying crude from Omoku to Brass Terminal at Etiama was blown up on July 30. An IED detonated a second pipeline at the Obama Tekere River, which also serves the terminal, on August 11.
After a shootout with police, Butswat reported that four individuals had been taken into custody.
Eni has yet to comment on the issue. Its exports were last under force majeure in March after a blast on another Brass pipeline.
Disruptions to oil production are common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, where pipelines are often vandalised and crude stolen for illegal refining.
This will further dampen Nigeria’s crude oil production performance which averaged 1.183 million barrels per day (bpd) in July 2022, data from OPEC revealed.
This is a far cry from the 1.83mbpd production quota given to the country by OPEC.
The report said the figure showed an increase of 7,000 barrels per day when compared with 1.176mb/d produced averagely in the month of June 2022.
“According to secondary sources, averaged 28.92 mb/d in July 2022, higher by 216,000 barrels per day month-on-month.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, while production in Venezuela and Angola declined,” it said.