Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company says it is seeking foreign technical expertise to halt the ongoing oil spillage at an oilfield it operates in Nembe, Bayelsa State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the ongoing oil spillage from the Aiteo’s oilfield started 5th of November.
The firm, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Mathew Ndianabasi noted that it has intensified its response by seeking the assistance of other oil and gas exploration firms to contain the spill.
The statement is coming on the heels of a reaction by Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa who criticized the pace of response and Aiteo’s inability to halt the spillage which has continued to pollute Nembe creeks and farmlands.
Diri had warned the oil firm to be ready for the consequences of neglecting the negative impact of the incident believed to have been caused by equipment failure.
The governor said his administration remained committed to defending the welfare of the impacted residents.
However, it was gathered that officials of the indigenous company had visited the leadership of the impacted communities to empathise with the victims.
The firm handed over four truckloads of food items, medical supplies and N5 million cash while it battles to stop the leak.
Aiteo, an indigenous oil firm which acquired the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 following the 2015 divestment by Shell maintains that the leak was caused by sabotage by oil thieves who have become an obstacle to oil production and export from the asset.
The OML 29 acquired for about $2.4 billion consists the 97km Nembe Creek trunk line which evacuates crude from onshore oil wells within the oil bloc and other operators to Bonny Export Terminal.
“Though spills of this nature are not uncommon to the oil and gas industry, their resolution requires expert skills and equipment that are not routinely or readily available.
“The typical process is to first kill the well and stop the leak and then focus on the clean-up, aside urgent possible technical responses to contain the leak.
“Aiteo has sought active collaboration with Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA) and has since mobilised to site, in addition to Aiteo internal resources to reinforce containment and recovery efforts.
“CNA is the industry non-profit umbrella body with expertise and resource to contain spills of this nature.
“In the meantime, however, the area has been cordoned off and CNA is mobilising additional resources to strengthen the containment effort.
“The required apparatus, including heavy duty and specialist equipment are presently being mobilised, locally and internationally, on a fast-track basis, to bring the well under control.
“For this purpose, Aiteo has on-boarded the involvement of the renowned, Boots & Coots, arguably the leading well control company in the world, working with a local resource.
“Upon this intervention and conclusion, it is expected that the persistence of the leak alongside its functional consequences will be abated and significantly diminished,” the oil firm stated.
OML 29 well leak: Impacted communities express concerns over air toxicity
Meanwhile, communities impacted by the oil spillage, the people of Nembe Basamri had expressed concerns over the air toxicity following prolonged exposure to gas and crude oil leaks from the oil well operated by Aiteo.
Recall that the oil firm had reported the leak from the oil well at its Santa Barbra South field within Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 on Nov. 5, but community sources claimed that the leak was noticed on Nov 1.
It was gathered that residents at fishing settlements along the Nembe creeks have been living with the gas and crude discharge which has paralysed economic activities in the predominantly fishing area for the past two weeks.
Nimibofa Degi, a community leader in Opu-Nembe who spoke in a telephone chat with NAN, said the people in the impacted arrears were worried over the air quality in the area and alleged that they were having respiratory challenges.
He further alleged that a four-year-old toddler developed complications following complaints of stomach upset and difficulties in breathing and was being taken to a health centre at Opu-Nembe when she died.
“With the girl’s death, suspected to have been as a result of methane gas poisoning, we have expressed worries to our king that if nothing is done urgently, more deaths will be imminent.
“As a biochemist, I know how toxic methane gas can be and we call for an emergency air quality audit to ascertain the toxicity levels in the impacted communities.
“If not for the resilience and robust immunity of the rural people, more residents would have developed severe complications.
“The result of the air quality tests would go a long way to determine if evacuating the people is necessary.
“The oil well in question is a gas well with about 80 per cent gas and 20 per cent crude reserve, and the ongoing response by more than 50 oil workers is on oil recovery while the toxic gas escapes into the atmosphere,” Degi said.
Reacting to a statement issued by Mr Mathew Ndianabasi, spokesman of Aiteo, which claimed that the oil firm suspected oil theft and sabotage, Degi dismissed the claim as “a reckless prejudice“.
“It is just a ploy to evade liability for the obvious neglect. It is a known fact that the well is non-producing and the area has salt water while the wellhead casing is made of steel which is prone to corrosion.
“Rather than look inwards at their safety procedures for such high pressure wells they are pointing accusing fingers at innocent people. The surveillance worker who noticed and reported the leak is being hunted by the security agencies.
“We will resist every attempt to pre-determine the cause of this disaster even when the investigation has yet to commence. Every alliance between the operator and their surveillance contractors to divert attention from safety processes will fail.
“We have evidence that when the leak was reported earlier on about Nov. 1, rather than use appropriate sealants, they used clothes to block the crack. We will give the evidence during the joint investigation and the truth will prevail,” Degi said.
Meanwhile, the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency says it has authorised the deployment of oil spill response team from other oil firms in the country to assist, so as to mitigate the impact on the environment.
Mr Idris Musa, Director-General of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, who had told NAN that personnel deployed to investigate the incident could not commence work until the leak was plugged, noted that the leak was still ongoing.