Explosion rocks Shell, Agip oil fields in Bayelsa

An explosion rocked Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) oil facilities at Ikarama community, Yenagoa local government area (LGA) of Bayelsa state, on Monday.

Ben Warder, a youth leader in Ikarama near the incident site, told NAN on Tuesday that residents heard several sounds from the explosions that rocked Shell gas pipeline and Agip’s crude lines.

“The site is not far from Ikarama, we heard sounds from the blast and it sounded like dynamites and it was not safe to go near,” Warder said.

“So, when the situation became quiet we had to trace what happened and it turned out that Shell’s gas pipeline and Agip’s crude lines were destroyed.

“The incident resulted to air pollution from the gas pipeline and crude leak which members of the affected communities are battling to cope with.”

Crude oil accounts for half of government’s income and about 90 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Further attacks oil pipelines could hurt Nigeria’s oil production and foreign exchange earnings, depleting Nigeria’s external reserves.

Confirming the incident, Michael Adande, an SPDC spokesman, told NAN that the oil firm had received reports of the incident and shut down the facility to curtail impact.

“We have report of interference on our pipeline about 1 kilometre from Ikarama community in Bayelsa state,” Adande said.

“We immediately shut-in the line and we have informed the relevant regulatory government agencies and stakeholders.

“A government-led joint investigation team will determine the cause of the interference.”

Meanwhile, on November 19, 2020, a gas explosion occurred at an illegal crude oil refinery camp located between Ibelebiri and Otuegue 2 communities in Ogia LGA of Bayelsa state.