Nigeria seals up Shell’s Gbaran Ubie oil and gas facility on court order

A Nigerian state government has sealed the premises of the Gbaran Ubie oil and gas production facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell on court orders for operating without a permit and evicting its staff.

It was not clear whether the surprise move would immediately affect oil and gas production at the facility, which Shell had been expanding.

“The Gbaran Ubie facility was developed by Shell … in Bayelsa State without a development permit,” the state government, in the Niger Delta, said in statement on Monday.

It said Shell had “refused and failed to comply with the provisions and requirements of the law and regulations made pursuant to the law”.

A State High Court had ordered the premises to be sealed to allow inspectors “conduct environmental, health, technical integrity and safety checks on the facility”, the statement said.

A Shell spokesman declined to comment, saying the oil major would issue a statement on Tuesday.

Shell had launched the facility in 2010 to with an initial goal of from 2011 of 1 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and up to 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil.

It planned to boost output to 1.3 trillion standard cubic feet under expansion plan by adding more wells, Shell’s website said.

The facility supplies the Bonny liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal and helps also generate electricity, which is scarce in the West African nation.

Residents in the Delta have long complained about oil spills and widespread poverty despite being home to much of Nigeria’s oil production.