Constant pipeline breakages, uncertainties in security of assets amongst other issues in the Niger Delta oil fields have increased oil and gas companies’ average shut down days from 45 to 160 days. A former Director at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Osten Olorunsola, made this disclosure during a roundtable meeting on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) organised by the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) and Media Initiative on Transparency in Extractive Industries (MITEI) yesterday in Abuja. Olorunsola said, “There are operations around the world where you can almost guarantee 330 days for production. You can’t do all through the year because you have scheduled maintenance and all that, but usually it is not more than 30 and 45 days, anything more than that is not good. “In terms of real operational shutdowns, we are seeing something between 80 and 160 days in Nigeria, which is not good. […]