The Federal Government and petroleum industry stakeholders have vowed investigation of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility which exploded on Wednesday.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) confirmed the development in a statement issued on Saturday.
NUPRC and stakeholders had ealier embarked on a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) to the burnt out facility. NUPRC told newsmen that Trinity Spirit FPSO, located at Ukpokiti field (OML 108) in Delta State, exploded leading to a fire incident on the vessel.
Providing an update, the commission said the fire had been successfully extinguished.
“The commission will commence JIV with relevant stakeholders immediately in line with our regulatory oversight function for upstream operations.
“We will deploy our incident management strategy. We’ll ensure the removal of the FPSO is carried out professionally to prevent an escalation of the incident.
“The commission will ensure that all safety and environmental measures are strictly adhered to in the management of the incident.”
Management of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (SEPCOL), which owns the FPSO, confirmed that the JIV with relevant stakeholders and experts had been scheduled for Feb. 5.
Mr Ikemefuna Okafor, the Chief Executive Officer, SEPCOL (In receivership) signed the statement.
Okafor said there was still no fatalities from the incident though some operatives remained unaccounted for.
The company, he said will prioritise investigations to establish the whereabouts, safety, and security of the 10 crew members who were on board the vessel prior to the incident.
Okafor lauded the assistance provided by the Clean Nigeria Associates, the Chevron team, government agencies and the people of the community, particularly the fishermen since the incident occurred.
