Emmanuel Addeh writes on the recent oil spill in Nembe, Bayelsa, the challenges in curtailing it and efforts being made by stakeholders to halt the spillage

In the first week of November, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), Operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Aiteo Joint Venture (JV), Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29, reported a leak in one of its assets in Nembe, Bayelsa state.

Although not an unusual occurrence in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, what is perhaps peculiar with the latest oil spill is that after over two weeks, the hydrocarbons continue to spew into the environment.

Globally, spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products or heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel.

In Nigeria, it is most caused by sabotage, vandalism or ageing and unmaintained facilities by oil companies. In this case, Aiteo has said it suspects sabotage.

Clean-up and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved.

While typically, spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up, shutting down the source of the emission is usually the first step, so as to prevent the hydrocarbons from spreading.

What the law says

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) saddled with the responsibility of handling issues relating to spills has enunciated the process of reporting such events when they occur.

For instance, all oil spills must (by law) be closed-off/stopped by the oil company within 24 hours of being notified of an oil spill in their jurisdiction, a Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) must be carried out as soon as possible, after a spill has been identified and containment measures taken.

According to the rules, JIV is where the oil company representatives, community representatives, and appropriate government agencies visit the oil spill site to agree on the cause, impact and scale of the spill. The resulting JIV document is then signed by all parties present and this forms the basis of any legal proceedings or compensation claims.

In addition, within two weeks of a spill being identified, oil companies must submit information (form B) to the government regulator which outlines areas of impact, area covered by spill, quantities spilled, quantities recovered, cause of spill, containment and clean-up measures.

When further clean-up efforts by the oil companies or their contractors is deemed complete, the oil company will contact the government regulator with a report on their clean-up operations (form C).

In the beginning

On Friday, November 5, 2021, Aiteo reported that a spill occurred on a non-producing well head in its Santa Barbara South field, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

A spokesman for the company, Mr. Matthew Ndiana, in a statement, disclosed that the magnitude of the incident “is of an extremely high order”, stating that neither the cause of the spill nor the quantity of leaked hydrocarbon could be determined at the time of the discovery.

However, Aiteo noted that containment booms were deployed, adding that recovery commenced immediately around the wellhead.

“As an incident of this nature imports, the necessary oil spill notification report has been promptly communicated to NOSDRA, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission(NUPRC) and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services(NAPIMS) as is required by regulation,” the company stated.

Challenges

The indigenous oil firm explained that a JIV to the spill site had been held by all relevant stakeholders, including the community, but said the process at the time, was inconclusive, owing to difficulties in accessing the area due to high pressure of hydrocarbons from the wellhead.

Additionally, the company stressed that immediate efforts to control the leak were aborted due to the high pressure emanating from the well head.

“Consequently, Aiteo has mobilised a full intervention team with well control specialists and equipment, both locally and internationally to arrest the leak,” the company pointed out.

Efforts to stop spill

But as pressure continues to mount on the company, at the weekend it disclosed that it was working with both foreign and local experts to curtail the oil leak.

It stated that the well, which the company acquired in 2015, had been mostly dormant, having been securely isolated since then.

Aiteo, in a statement signed by its Media Contact, Mr. Matthew Ndiana, explained that aside urgent possible technical responses to contain the leak, it had sought the collaboration of Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA) which has since mobilised to site.

“CNA is the industry non-profit umbrella body with expertise and resource to contain spills of this nature. In the meantime however, the area has been cordoned off and CNA is mobilising additional resources to strengthen the containment effort.

“The required apparatus, including heavy duty and specialist equipment are presently being mobilised, locally and internationally, on a fast-track basis, to bring the well under control,” it explained.

In addition, the company noted that it was working with a renowned entity abroad to join in the curtailing and clean-up efforts.

“For this purpose, Aiteo has on-boarded the involvement of the renowned, Boots & Coots, arguably the leading well control company in the world, working with a local resource.

“Upon this intervention and conclusion, it is expected that the persistence of the leak alongside its functional consequences will be abated and significantly diminished,” the statement stressed.

It added that as required, Aiteo had promptly called for a JIV, emphasising that due to the high-pressure effusion, the JIV team could not reach the location, a development that aborted the inspection.

Aiteo stated that since then, it had activated an elaborate and extensive spillage containment response in the internationally prescribed manner, explaining that though spills of the current nature are not uncommon in the oil and gas industry, their resolution requires expert skill and equipment that are not routinely or readily available.

“The typical process is to first kill the well and stop the leak and then focus on the clean-up,” the company maintained.

Aiteo disclosed that its senior personnel had also visited the affected communities and made available, for the use of the communities, relief materials aimed at ameliorating the direct consequences of the incident.

“The communities visited include Opu-Nembe Kingdom, where the Aiteo delegation was received by the King, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Biobelemoye Josiah Ogbodo VIII, his council of chiefs and all sections of the society,” said the oil company.e

During the visit, the statement quoted the monarch as saying that: “…We are happy that Aiteo has initiated this visit to support the community at this time and urge them to continue to work with us as partners in progress on its corporate goals in the community.”

It further stressed that Aiteo’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Benedict Peters had extended his assurances to the affected communities and confirmed that the company was doing everything in its power to contain the spill and ameliorate the situation as rapidly, safely and responsibly as possible.

“We have mobilised best-in-class resources and expertise to put this mishap behind us. Rest assured of our resolve to limit the escape of oil and protect the ecosystem from its effects,” the statement quoted Peters as saying.

Sabotage suspected

It reiterated that while an accurate cause of the leak had not been ascertained as priority attention had been focused on containing the consequences of the unforeseen incident, it suspected vandalism.

Aiteo said that it remains committed to ascertaining, immediately that the well head is secure, and probe the immediate and remote causes of the leak which will be driven by a JIV that will follow.

“Nevertheless, it is important that we affirm our preliminary view, based on our assessment of the proximate circumstances, that it will be difficult to exclude deliberate tampering of the well by oil thieves attempting to siphon crude directly from the well head. In our view, sabotage remains the most imminent cause of this incident,” Aiteo added.

It pointed out that oil theft and asset vandalism continue to present the biggest challenge it faces in the operations of oil and gas production in the Niger Delta area. “It has continued to damage the production profile of oil producers in so many ways,” he said.

Spill worries Bayelsa govt.

Meanwhile, the Bayelsa state government has expressed worry over the continuing inability to plug the leaks at the oilfield in Nembe, saying it might spread to other communities.

Commissioner for Information in the state, Ayibaina Duba, said Governor Douye Diri was disappointed that the spillage was still ongoing.

“The governor wonders why the massive spill has continued unabated, leading to extensive pollution of the rivers, waterways and farmlands in Nembe local government area, even when the company’s management is aware of the situation”.

“The governor is gravely concerned that if the high volume of crude being spilled continuously is not stopped immediately, it will spread to many more communities. This will undermine the economic life of residents, who are predominantly farmers and fishermen,” it added.

NOSDRA: Magnitude of leak hindering probe

But the officials of NOSDRA, deployed to ascertain the cause of the leak reported that the magnitude of the leak was hampering investigations.

Director-General of NOSDRA, Idris Musa, noted that the agency had directed the operators of the facility to plug the leak for investigations to begin, adding that other oil firms in the country, under the auspices of the CNA had been drafted to join Aiteo in the recovery efforts.

“A spill was reported by Aiteo at her Santa Barbara well 1 well head on Nov. 5, 2021. Joint investigation visit to the site was carried out on Nov. 6, 2021.

“Due to the continuous spraying of crude oil from the well head, the cause of the spill was not determined by the joint investigation team, which comprised NOSDRA, DPR (NURPC), state ministry of environment and community representatives.

“Aiteo was directed to shut in the well, so that proper JIV will be conducted on this facility. Recovery of free phase oil was ongoing as at the time of this visit. Aiteo was also directed to deploy more booms to contain the spilled crude oil,” the agency said.