We’ve successfully stopped leaking wellheads, says Eroton

Eroton Exploration and Production Limited says it has successfully shut in an oil leak from Cawthorne channel wellhead 15, oil mining lease (OML) 18. 

OML 18 is a large oil bloc located south of Port Harcourt, Rivers state, and contains 11 oil and gas fields.

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had said efforts were in top gear to stop the spill. 

In a statement on Monday, Mercy Max-Ebibai, the company’s spokesperson, said the spill had been “successfully contained and the well brought under control” following the incident, which occurred on June 15.

It added that the company had also contained a wild well oil spill which occurred at Cawthorne channel field, wellhead 047, on July 14.

The company had said both spills were due to sabotage. 

Eroton said it was delighted “to confirm that CAWC-047 that was also vandalised within the same month and flowing to the environment since July 14 has just been controlled”.

It added that efforts were ongoing to complete a spill clean-up of the wellhead slot, including installing a proper securement and subsurface downhole plugs.

Eroton E&P said the engineering team and the control vendor worked assiduously to establish control across all the flowing points on the vandalised wellhead.

It added the team had to fabricate a platform on a work barge (as the wellhead platform had been initially cannibalised totally) before control valves could be installed and well shut-in was achieved.

The oil firm also said following the preliminary joint investigative visit with all relevant stakeholders, including the NOSDRA, the ministry of environment and the community, a meeting held on July 15 to estimate the spill volume and the post-spill impact assessment.

It said clean-up exercise would be completed at the earliest possible time.

“As excellent hosts, they provided all the necessary support in arresting the situation despite the hazards posed by the incident. We are happy that their seafaring and economic activities can return to normal in no time”, Max-Ebibai said.