Bayelsa: Italian Oil Major Speaks Out On Pipeline Blast

The Italian oil major operating in Nigeria as Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), is claiming that it responded within 24 hours after a pipeline blast by suspected vandals at its Taylor Creek oilfields in August 2019 and shut the facility to curtail further degradation of the environment.

The claim is coming following an outcry that the oil company abdicated its responsibility of operating in an environmentally sustainable manner by leaving the site without remediation for close to one year.

Its parent company, Eni, in a statement says delays in the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) and fixing pipeline in May 2020 were caused by security concerns and not negligence by the oil major.

It was however reported that the company plugged the leak on its ruptured pipeline at its Taylor Creek fields, Kalaba community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State some 12 months after oil spilled on the facility.

Concerned local people have repeatedly cried out that the damaged point on the pipeline continued to spew crude oil and gas into the community’s environment since last July 30, when the line was blown up by unknown persons.

Director-General of NOSDRA, Idris Musa, says finding by officials deployed on a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) indicated that suspected vandals used explosives to destroy the pipeline.

Eni notes that vandalism was an obstacle to the smooth operations and caused incalculable damage to the environment.

“The spill was caused on a minor well flowline by a third party interference, more specifically a blast by an explosive device occurred on August 3, 2019. Within 24 hours from receipt of the notification of an incident, the facility, both flowline and well, were shut in and has remained closed since.

“The immediate action allowed to contain the volume of the spill, which amounts to 12 barrels. The area impacted by the spill falls mainly within the company’s right of way. The Joint Investigation Visit, which includes Company personnel, Government Regulatory Agencies and Community representatives, was repeatedly postponed due to security challenges which prevented inspectors to visit the area.

“Only after a long engagement with the community, the investigator’s team was able to visit the area on May 31, 2020. NAOC restates that third party interferences result in losses for the Company as well as significant damage for the environment and the communities.

“This is why the Company has developed an integrated strategy to prevent, reduce, contain and remediate these events and their impact, and will spare no effort to ensure asset and production integrity”, says the oil company’s statement.

Its host community has been attributing the delay to an alleged nonchalant attitude of the oil firm which forced them to seek the intervention of the regulators.

Chairman of Kalaba Community Development Committee (CDC), Samuel Oburo, says Agip mobilised to site toward the end of May, adding that the oil firm had remained adamant and its belated response followed intense pressure the community.

Subscribe to our newsletter for latest news and updates. You can disable anytime.