NOSDRA Confirms Oil Spill at Eroton’s OML 18 in Bayelsa

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has confirmed an oil wellhead leak at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 18, operated by an indigenous operator, Eroton Exploration and Production Limited along the 97 kilometre Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL).

The Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr Idris Musa confirmed the oil leak yesterday, noting that efforts were being made to plug the leaking oil well.

Musa explained that the company reported and oil recovery “is underway. Efforts are on to stop the source which is a wellhead.”

A notification report by Corporate Communications Lead at Eroton, Mr Odianosen Masade indicated that the incident occurred on June 15, while a site assessment visit was carried out on June 23.

The oil firm said preliminary findings indicated that the incident was due to vandalism.

It added: “This is to bring to your attention the loss of control of Cawthorne Channel well 15 resulting from the oil spill. CAWC015L/S is a dual string well which started production in May 1977. The short string was shut-in in 1988 due to high gas oil ratio (HGOR), while the long string watered out and quit in 1991.

“The spill started on the 15th of June 2022 and immediately an emergency response procedure was activated. The operations team quickly visited the site for preliminary investigation and discovered that the wellhead was vandalised.

“It was also observed that the wellhead platform was removed. This will compound the difficulties in gaining access to the wellhead. Our team of Well Engineers are working with contractors and evaluating the safest procedure that will be required to bring the well under control.