Shell Blames Kolo Creek Oil Spill on Sabotage

Fri, Apr 24, 2015
By publisher
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BREAKING NEWS, Oil & Gas

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Shell Petroleum Development Company blames the Kolo Creel oil spill on brazen sabotage of its facility

| By Anayo Ezugwu | May 4, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |

SHELL Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, has washed its hand off the latest oil spill in Kolo Creek in Bayelsa State. Blaming the oil spill which occurred on April 15, on sabotage, Shell added that it resulted from a leakage at the SPDC operated Kolo Creek oilfield. Joseph Obari, spokesperson for Shell, issued a statement on Tuesday, April 21, saying that the report of a joint investigation visit to the Kolo Creek Manifold spill showed that the facility was sabotaged.

Obari said the investigation team, which visited the site on April 16, found that unknown persons had cut out a section of the metal protection of the manifold, removed components of the pressure control system and opened the isolation valves, resulting in a spill. He said the volume of spilled oil was estimated at 27 barrels, affecting mainly the manifold grounds and part of the surrounding vegetation.

“The investigation was led by the regulators, National Oil Spill Detection Regulatory Agency and Department of Petroleum Resources, and the representatives of the Bayelsa state ministry of environment, host communities and SPDC. SPDC stopped the leak soon after it occurred, deployed effective containment and began the recovery of oil. No chemical dispersant has been applied. The containment and oil recovery activities involved the use of booms, absorbent pads and vacuum truck for evacuation of recovered oil. Oil spill response activities are continuing, while remediation will commence after the initial clean-up has been done,” he said.

Obari said another leak/fire was reported on Monday, April 20, on the Kolo Creek-Rumuekpe trunk line, about five kilometres from the manifold. He said the fire had been extinguished and site observation confirmed a recently excavated ditch at the fire point.

SPDC has expressed concern at the brazen damage of its facilities in parts of the Delta. It commended the Bayelsa State government for its support and called on communities and other stakeholders to join hands in the efforts to discourage the trend.

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