
The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC),has confirmed an oil leak from its Idu oilfields at Egbebiri settlement within Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area in Bayelsa, resulting in its shutdown.
The cause of the leakage, according to the Joint Investigative Visit (JIV),is traced to equipment failure due to a rupture at the wellhead.
Eni, parent company of NAOC, said the facility was shut down to prevent further damage to the environment.
It said: “As soon as the incident was reported, we activated our oil spill response, shut in the well, and notified government regulatory agencies.The Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out on 09/05/2021, with participation of community representatives and the government regulatory agencies.
“The event occurred within the Company’s wellhead location which is paved and walled round. There is no significant third-party impact,” Eni stated.
However, an environmental rights group, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said that the incident which discharged crude and associated gas had severely polluted the environment.
The Non-Governmental Organisation said that a visit to the spill site showed pictorial evidence of the crude spreading beyond NAOC’s right of way as nearby vegetation were withered as a result of the crude impact.
According to a field report on the spill incident signed by Mr Alagoa Morris, Head of Field Operations at ERA/FoEN, the Idu fields was notorious for frequent spills caused by equipment failure.