Its very dangerous to have pipe lines in front of peoples houses especially where there are children.
Its just stupid for OB to say such a thing the answer is right in his face.


WE NEED TO BE PRAYERFUL.

Eastcoast, Dont decieve yourself! Its a curse thru and thru

OMG i cant believe what my eyes just saw!! i mean what was that all about

This is so sad and the pictures made my cry so much. blaming the government or the poor will not solve our problem, we just have to know God and pray more than ever before for God to revisit our country. is this how Nigeria was since the beginning? The blood of the killed and murdered of the innocent is telling on Nigeria, many have cursed Nigeria before dying and no matter what we do, imagine how people are dying; blasts, auto crashes, plane crashes, house fire, guns, assassins etc, do you seriously thinks things will be better? I don't, things will not change until Nigeria turn back to God for divine intervention.

I really wish there is something to say to the bereaved that will make a difference except that God will be with them and guide through this ordeal. (Amen)

ohh bloddy hell, so all that is real

one of the very few times im shedding tears for the tragedy of others

Afeni,
You have no knowledge at all what it is like to be in the Niger Delta area. What you guys are seeing here in the West axis of this fgorsaken country is what the Niger Delt indigenes-ever trusting of the scoundrels that constitute the Nigerian elite, have been experiencing for decades. I am in the States like you, but please the govt in the US cant survive the anger of the people if they do just  1% of the nonsense they are doing now. They dont deserve being sued, they deserve extreme prejudicial action.
Come back home and see and then maybe we can give permission to talk.
Pr else, please be careful of reactions about the oil issue in this cursed nation.

Orikinla:

Imagine the nonsense.
When pipelines are passing infront of houses and farmlands and even children sit on them and use them to play hide and seek

Uh this had nothing to do with children playing hide and seek, it had to do with people illegally tapping the oil for profit. As I said before the pipes are perfectly safe so long as people don't go poking holes in them.

Hunter:

Uh this had nothing to do with children playing hide and seek, it had to do with people illegally tapping the oil for profit. As I said before the pipes are perfectly safe so long as people don't go poking holes in them.

them pipes should pass in front your house in Melbourne and some body should bust a cap in them maybe then you will know how it feels

ikamefa:

them pipes should pass in front your house in Melbourne and some body should bust a cap in them maybe then you will know how it feels

Do you think that any of those pipes can be bust by children playing with a ball or hide and seek or whatever. @Hunter is right, it takes a lot to pierce a little hole in those pipes as their protection are more than solid, unless the piercing is highly intentional as we have seen in former leakages and explosions. Have you ever heard in any of the news covering explosions, that a pipe exploded because of a leakage caused as a result of children playing?

medube:

Do you think that any of those pipes can be bust by children playing with a ball or hide and seek or whatever. @Hunter is right, it takes a lot to pierce a little hole in those pipes as their protection are more than solid, unless the piercing is highly intentional as we have seen in former leakages and explosions. Have you ever heard in any of the news covering explosions, that a pipe exploded because of a leakage caused as a result of children playing?

the pipes should not pass in front a house/residential area in the first place,look at the picture what kind of protection do you see there? the pipes got rust on them . so if children are playing boju boju or na hide and seek, intentional piercing or not the pipes should not be where they are easily accessible to just anybody u dig?

@ikamefa fair enough right on its placement, but still what you are seeing that pic is not even the body of the pipe, and even though it is, the thickness of that pipe will need more than 100years of rust to penetrate it. Nevertheless, its placement or positioning should not be a reason for theives and vilains to tear it and rob, should it? Afterall those pipes have been there for years and years and considering in the past our parents were not as evil minded and corrupt as us, there were never any pipe leakages or explosions, were they?

@ medube no, but naija was good then, its stupid to go bust the pipes , they should not be easily accessible that one na im i sabi

Explosions led to new pipeline standards

Major catastrophes in the US have changed the way pipelines are regulated across the country. The newly DNV-acquired company Cortest Columbus Technologies has been instrumental in developing new industry standards.


In June 1999 a gasoline pipeline ruptures in Bellingham, Washington. Almost one million litres of gasoline are released and ignite, sending a fireball racing down a creek resulting in the death of two 10-year-old boys and an 18-year-old man.

In August the next year, a natural gas transmission pipeline ruptures near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The released gas ignites, resulting in twelve fatalities of persons who were camping near by.

“After the Bellingham catastrophe, CC Technologies was involved in assisting in the return to service of the pipeline,” says Dr. Neil G. Thompson, the president and founder of the company. “CC Technologies has assisted in restoring public confidence in the pipeline operation through public relations, public awareness, and emergency preparedness meetings for communities along the pipeline right-of-way.”

After the next catastrophe – in Carlsbad – the scope was extended. CC Technologies became even more instrumental in the more long-term development of new industry standards and in promoting pipeline integrity to help insure public safety and to protect the environment.

Aging Pipelines. When considering both transmission and distribution pipelines, one third of the global oil and gas pipeline infrastructure is within North America. Over 50 per cent of the pipelines in the US are 40 years or older. Around 80 per cent cannot be inspected using traditional tools.

Some operators are still managing the integrity of pipelines originally fabricated more than 70 years ago – well before the concept of integrity management and intelligent pigging were established. Although tragic failures have occurred, the challenge remains to utilise integrity and risk-based management approaches to permit aging pipelines to be operated safely.

It is not only in Bellingham and Carlsbad that leakages occur. No one can be sure how big the total figures in the US are, but the annual leakage rate of oil is reported to be similar to the worst-ever oil spill disaster in the US, the Exxon Valdez, from which the total leakage was 40 million litres.

Risk-based approach. Dr. Thomson says: “The most significant factor is that pipelines continue to age making the consequences of even relatively low corrosion rates more and more significant. If not controlled, the relatively good safety and leakage performance of the majority of the US pipeline system will become worse. A positive change has to be achieved in a cost-effective way. We have to assist the operators in finding the correct balance between safety and cost.”

“There is no quick fix, neither here nor in other parts of the world. But the good thing is that the general focus has shifted to an integrity management and risk-based approach. There is a need for a documented, implemented and on-going integrity management programme for all pipeline systems.”

A new strong unit. The US is predicted to have a major increase in gas consumption over the next 20 years. This increase will need to be delivered through the aging pipeline system.

Over the past few years, there has been a strong focus on the North American pipeline systems, but the challenges are similar in other parts of the world, too. Increased focus on pipeline integrity is expected in South America, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and the former Soviet Union.

Even with the significant challenges of maintaining a safe and reliable pipeline delivery system, Dr. Thomson is an optimist. He says: “We will together be a strong unit within this market. DNV and CCT have very complementary technological and market positions, and this acquisition will improve our expertise and services.”




28 April 2005
Author: Per Wiggo Richardsen

http://www.dnv.com/publications/dnv_forum/by_subject/oil_gas/explotions.asp

When some people are posing and posturing as experts, you should be well informed.

I have been on location in the Niger Delta of Nigeria since July 2004 to date and doing my best to contain and restrain the worst fringe elements from doing collateral damage to the mainstay of our economy. And I have been meeting with both the principal key bodies in the host communities and the multinational oil companies and if not for the divine interventions of the Almighty God, the worst would have happened. And mind you I am involved intoto. And anything can still happen. And it will only take one shot from a rocket launcher and the history of Nigeria would be re-written in blood and fire.

We in the Niger Delta can re-write the history of Nigeria overnight.

Ignorance kills.

The picture shown is of the oil pipeline explosion in Bellingham, Washington six years ago changed the way pipelines are regulated across the US.

@ orikinla ain't no expert in here, you yourself you are no expert,according to you you are involved intoto woked!!!!! according to the article pipeline explosions in the U.S led to new innovations was it stated in the article that people put a hole in them or due to old age ?
i thought this was a forum to air your views?[ whatever!!

I am doing my best to tell you that leakages and spillages occur and pipelines are not safe when they pass through your farmlands and infront of your houses.

Common sense is all you need to understand me.

Its such a terrible and disgusting sight to behold.
I dont feel any pity for them though because
Everyone knows the dangers in such vandalisation of pipelines but they still do not see any reason why the pipelines should be left alone .They do not value their lives dats why they went to scoop fuel, if they did, they would have been aliive today. we keep saying the government should do smetin,wat have we done to protect ourselves and lives.

@ orikinla pele! o teacher

The tragedy left me bored and depressed.
I am tired.

The sight of their mass burial in shallow graves left me numb.

These are preventable tragedies.

Orikinla:

These are preventable tragedies.

Yes very preventable if pipes will be left alone whether infront on people's houses, underground or flying above

may God grant their relatives the strenght to bear their lost

Damn i saw the explosion dat money,it was terrible and i could feel d heat like a mile away, poverty and ignorance killd them,if everythin was done wit ease & caution, d explosion mite not ave occurd.

Lest you all forget that a policepost is not far away from the place and the NNPC was informed of the leaking oil pipeline. But like in most cases in Nigeria, negligence, arrogance and ignorance caused the catastrophe just like in the case of the other catastrophic tragedies of the past.

Oil pipeline leakages and spillages don't just happen overnight.

The big boys doing vandalisation of oil pipelines and illegal oil bunkering don't get blown to pieces in oil pipeline explosions.

Breaking the pipeline is an offence on its own.

God save Nigerians from ignorance. Our people need to understand that
live is beyond just what to eat and drink.

Just imagine it. Can they ever get wealthy from breaking the pipeline?
wealth is a thing of the mind and Nigerians need to understand this.
You cant be wealthy without if your thinking is not wealthy within?!

we need serious re-orientation in Nigeria. Can we start one at Nairaland?
we seemed to have more like minders here.

Right now the militant revolutionary groups in the Niger Delta have united to launch more attacks on the Multinational oil companies. And they buy their arms with money from illegal oil bunkering and funds provided by their sponsors who are all stakeholders and shareholders in the illegal oil bunkering business.

But the Multinational oil companies and the Nigerian Government are not ignorant of the principal crooks and rogues engaged in illegal oil bunkering in Nigeria. They are all partners in crime.

"How much lying to yourself are you actually capable of?"

-- Howard Roark in The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand.

Shell Corporation knows how to extract oil without causing pollution but chooses not to do so in the Niger River delta. Shell Corporation knows how to share oil wealth with those who own the land from where the oil comes -- but they choose not to do so. Shell knows well that poor people are no match for lawyers, lobbyists and naked 21st century greed. A Nigerian court has recently found Shell Corporation guilty of polluting the Niger Delta and ordered Shell to pay $1.5 billion to the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta in financial compensation for losses due to the pollution and to clean up the mess which has been made of the Niger delta. Shell Corporation refuses to pay a cent. Youths of the Ijaw people have begun seizing oil wells at gunpoint and telling Shell workers to get out of the delta until Shell pays its $1.5 billion fine, the pollution stops and the mess is cleaned up. These youths are labelled by the media as terrorists and thieves. Who is the terrorist? Who is the thief?
http://home.gwi.net/~fks/ksalmon.html