The federal government says it has begun evacuation of the remnants of oil at the Ukpokiti Oil Field explosion involving the Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL).
Sharon Ikeazor, Minister of State for Environment, who announced this in a statement on Sunday, informed that there was an estimated 50-60,000 barrels in the FPSO as at the time of the fire incident.
According to the minister, the approximate quantity of oil in the FPSO in the recent past was less than 200 000 barrels. One of the operators utilizing the services provided by the FPSO was said to have made an Offtake of approximately 120,000 barrels before the incident; leaving about 60,000 barrels.
Ikeazor said the fire incident at the Oil Field was eventually contained on the evening of Thursday, February 3, 2022.
She further assured that the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA), the scheduled agency under her ministry, will go for overflight today (Sunday) and Monday to monitor the situation of crude spill in the sea.
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She noted that the overflight operation will be sustained in the weeks ahead, until whatever remnants of oil in the FPSO is evacuated and measures evolved to forestall a recurrence of such an incident.
She equally said NOSDRA had an overflight on the incident area last Friday, to ascertain from the air what the surrounding conditions were, after extinguishing the fire.
According to the Minister, a joint investigation visit to the incident area, as well as the FPSO, was undertaken on Saturday by NOSDRA, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Ondo State Ministry of Environment, representatives of Communities proximate to the Area and staff of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited.
“While the cause of the fire incident is yet to be fully determined, the environment around the FPSO is only slightly covered by sheen and emulsified oil.
It was earlier reported that the
“NOSDRA will continue to give updates on this incident after each aerial surveillance scheduled for today and Monday,” Ikeazor assured.
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