Fresh oil spill hits Bayelsa community, Shell blames theft

A fresh oil spill has occurred on a Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) facility in the Imiringi community, Bayelsa state.

According to a statement on Wednesday, the SPDC said the incident was caused by oil thieves.

The company said it carried out a joint investigative visit (JIV) into the incident, which occurred on July 27.

The JIV is a statutory probe that follows every reported spill incident by regulators, operators, and community representatives to ascertain the cause, volume of the spill, and the impacted area.

Bamidele Odugbesan, media relations manager of the SPDC, in a statement on Wednesday in Yenagoa, said three barrels of SPDC’s Bonny light crude blend leaked into the environment.

Although members of the Imiringi community had claimed that the spill had polluted farmlands and water bodies in the area, the SPDC said the entire three barrels had been recovered, “leaving a residue”.

“SPDC, operator of the SPDC JV, acknowledges the occurrence of an oil spill from its ’’ Kolo creek Well 22T flowline facility at Imiringi on July 27,” the statement reads.

“The report of the joint investigation of the incident led by the Government Regulator, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), found that the incident was caused by illegal third-party activity.

“Meanwhile, cleanup, remediation and repair of the breached pipeline are ongoing.”

Shell said the JIV ended on July 30, with all parties unanimously agreeing on the cause.

According to SPDC, the JIV team comprised NOSDRA and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Also on the team are the state ministry of environment, representatives of the impacted community, and the SPDC.

The oil firm said the outcome and report of the investigation were signed off by all members of the JIV team.