December 05, (THEWILL) – Relative calm is gradually returning to the troubled communities in the Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, following the recent oil leakage from an idle non-producing oil well located in the Santa Barbara South field in OML 29, which is jointly owned by Nigeria’s largest indigenous oil firm, Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited (AEEPCO) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), but operated by the former.
About three weeks ago, a leakage from the well, which contains 80 per cent gas and 20 per cent crude, had spilled gas and crude, prompting Aiteo and other intervention agencies into action to contain the spillage and reduce the untold hardship on the people of the fishing communities in Nembe Kingdom, whose livelihood and existence depend on the waters.
Oil spills in the Niger Delta have been a recurring environmental hazard and have disrupted the livelihoods of locals who are mostly fishermen and farmers. This spill is actually of a different kind. It is more of gas than crude oil.
While the cause of this leak is still a subject of controversy and currently under investigation, with sabotage not being ruled out, Aiteo E and P deployed emergency booms (floating barriers used to contain marine spills, protect the waters and assist in recovery of crude) and sent palliatives to the affected communities.
A US-based firm, Boots and Coots, owned by Halliburton, with expertise in emergencies of this nature was contracted to help arrest the situation. The firm has since mobilised to ground zero to contain the leakage and fast-track spill recovery.
As at the time of this report, the spill has been contained within ground zero and painstaking efforts were being made to stop leakage from the Christmas tree wellhead.
The latest development is coming as fresh indications show that the incident has been hijacked by some powerful oil industry stakeholders to score cheap political and selfish gains.
THEWILL checks showed that lies and misinformation were deliberately fed to the public by these interests using the media and Internet to blow the incident out of proportion and put the operator on the hot seat.
Following the claims and counter claims on the spill, a team of journalists comprising senior editors of Nigerian newspapers, as well as news broadcast organisations on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, toured the site and the affected communities in Nembe and according to findings, the spill incident was nowhere near what was being circulated on the Internet and some media platforms.
Although about 19, 000 barrels of crude oil is projected to have spilled, so far, only about 4, 000 barrels of crude have been recovered from the month-old leak aligning with the non producing status of the well as discovered by the previous owner and operator, Shell.
“I can tell you authoritatively that the pressure of the well has been substantially diminished because all the chemicals that are needed to put the pressure under control are being fed in continuously and the pressure has started going down…
“The talk of 2 million barrels of oil spilling from the well is spurious. Two million barrels is about the size of the content of two super tankers. The oil would have spread over the entire country. The reserve of the well itself is nowhere near 2 million barrels,” Aiteo’s Global Group Director, Andrew Oru said last week in Opu-Nembe, Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, after taking a group of journalists on a tour of the area that is now tagged, “Ground Zero.”
Oru gave the assurance that everything was being put in place to prevent a humanitarian or ecological disaster.
According to him, the heavy vegetation of the area, by which oxygen is emitted in large quantities and which flows freely as well, had also helped to absorb gaseous emissions.
EFFORTS MADE EARLIER
The Group Managing Director, Aiteo Eastern E and P Company Limited, Victor Okoronkwo, had earlier given a status update of the situation on ground and his company’s efforts to restore normalcy to the troubled zone.
In a statement dated November 25, 2021, a copy of which was obtained by THEWILL, Okoronkwo said, “Following the visit of the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, in company with senior government officials, to take stock of the situation at ground zero yesterday, ongoing efforts are being intensified to cap the well and further control the consequences of the spillage at the Santa Barbara, Southwest field in the Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
“The Minister held extensive discussions with the Aiteo intervention team on ground, led by Chief Operations Officer, Ewarezi Useh, who debriefed him on the pre-kill well assessment by Boots and Coots, assuring him that the well would be secured within 48 hours of his visit.
“Afterwards, the minister had a town hall meeting with the people of the Opu-Nembe Kingdom, during which he undertook a very fruitful interaction with the community. Fortified with the promises of the company, he assured them that their concerns and grievances would be addressed as investigation to ascertain what went wrong after the well had been secured. As the well kill progresses, the containment exercise will continue, with booms and environmental barges mopping up spilled crude being fully deployed.
“All the relevant personnel and experts, local and international, are now on location. The marine spread carrying the pumps, chemicals, cranes and firefighting equipment are 100 per cent mobilised and have set sail to location. The crew will stop tonight at KM 45 and take off again at first light tomorrow with ETA 12 now on site. A 2 x 1000MT Ramp barge containing simulation equipment for the well kill also sailed today. Simultaneously, concurrent activities, including spotting and hooking up of hoses are ongoing on the barges to minimise clean up downtime.
“At SBAS-1, the well-control package was transferred onto the well platform and the crew carried out an inspection with the Xmas tree and identified the THS (Tubing Head Spool) to be 2-1/16. Further, RU(rig up) has been commenced, but not completed due to bad weather. The Forward Plan is to complete RU and install well control package to arrest the flow.”
Okoronkwo also gave specific updates on the site status, as well as the status in the well and surrounding vicinity.
The GMD noted, “There is currently no fire at or within the vicinity of the well. Environmental Impact Assessment in the vicinity of the area is in planning phase with a DPR / NOSDRA accredited firm.”
On the preparation for well kill, he said, “The team, comprising members from Aiteo Well Operations and Boots and Coot, is already at the well site in preparation for well control operation.
“The connection of suction and delivery lines of two high-discharge water pumps, to be used for well control operation, has been completed. The commissioning of the pumps is in progress.
“Civil work for the development of the debris laydown area and bunk house placement area is in progress. A 1000 Ramp barge containing all pimping and simulation equipment for the well kill is approaching Santa Barbra as per latest report received at 21:00hrs.
“The barge, which is carrying heavy duty well equipment, is on sail.
“The loading of additional equipment, which is being mobilised from Snake Island, is underway and it is expected to arrive at the staging area in Santa Barbara by 12:00hrs on November 26, 2021.”
SCORING CHEAP GOALS
However, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, President of the Arewa Consultative Youth Movement noted that the hydrocarbon industry which powers human civilisation is a complex, specialised and strategic arena all over the world. He therefore advised that such incidents in the course of crude oil exploration and exploitation need to be professionally managed and certainly not deliberately politicised by forces that don’t understand the key issues – or seek division.
Yusuf, who is also the Convener of the Association of Northern Youth Groups, said the recent Nembe oil wellhead blowout and spillage might just be an example of how genuine and expert interventions have been politicised, distracted or hobbled by hostile fringe industry interests.
TAKING MISCHIEF TO A DANGEROUS LEVEL
“But for some strange reasons, several forces have equally deployed their armaments to smear and damage the image of Aiteo. From peddling specious information that the spill is in excess of 2 million barrels, some have alleged that over 500,000 barrels were spilled while some hold on to 400,000,” Yusuf said in a statement issued on Friday. His observation is coming on the heels of a statement credited to the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Idris Musa.
Speaking last week on a national TV show, Musa had said, “It is absolutely wrong and preposterous for people to make false speculations over the oil spillage in the Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.”
Yusuf corroborated the NOSDRA boss’s assertion, saying, “The speculative mumbo-jumbo is being dispensed despite the fact that competent regulatory agencies exist, which could provide such information. To show the extent of mischief, only a few people have asked how many barrels the wellhead had been producing prior to the blowout. Before the blowout, OML 29 was producing 700 barrels.”
Continuing, the Arewa youth leader said, “This is simply organised conspiracy to put down Aiteo. Despite efforts by Aiteo to professionally contain the spill in Nembe, some see this incident as an opportunity to attack the company. Some interests are curiously putting out old spill videos to create a negative false impression of the incident.
“It certainly cannot be overstressed that what is playing out appears like a well-choreographed intrigue at work to undermine Aiteo and besmirch ongoing efforts to contain the leakage and mitigate the impact on communities around the location of the well. First was the exaggeration of massive oil spill, which some compared to the Hiroshima atomic bomb destruction. Comparing the Nembe oil spill to the US bombing of Hiroshima in Japan and the resulting destruction of human lives and property during the Second World War is taking mischief to a dangerous level. Worse still, it betrays crass ignorance.
“Clearly, it is scandalous to compare the incident to what happened in Hiroshima. Not surprisingly, after putting out this narrative, these same hostile and divisive forces, who apparently have an axe to grind with Nigeria’s biggest indigenous oil company, started circulating old spill videos to give fuel to their plot and set the communities against the company. They posted the false videos on various social media platforms so as to create the impression of a massive environmental damage to the ecosystem.”
CONDEMNATION TRAILS GOV DIRI’S OUTBURST
Yusuf also lambasted Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State over his outburst last Wednesday after visiting Nembe.
Governor Diri had paid a visit to the site, saying that the continuous spill had further endangered the lives of the people of Nembe and indeed, the entire Niger Delta.
The governor, who was accompanied on the visit by some lawmakers, including the member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Dr Fred Agbedi; Speaker of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, Abraham Ingobere and top government functionaries, expressed shock over what he described as the quantity of crude that had spilled into the environment, called on the Federal Government and operators of the oil field to immediately take action to stop it.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor noted that the prolonged oil spill into the water and air had an immediate and long term effect on the health of the inhabitants of the host communities.
The governor said, “Today happens to be a very dark day for me. What we have seen, I believe, is worse than what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. In all my life, I have not seen such magnitude of oil spillage. Our people are endangered. Our people’s source of livelihood is endangered. I empathise and sympathise with the people of Nembe on behalf of the government and people of Bayelsa State. I like to give you hope that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Your government will activate every constitutional means to arrest and redress this magnitude of oil spill.
“I therefore call on the Federal Government, the operators of the oil field, NNPC and Aiteo to immediately look for a superior and technical means of containing and stopping the oil spill.
“In Bayelsa, the only thing we know how to do best is fishing. Today, our own fishing route is endangered. I equally call on the Federal Government to immediately react and ensure that our fishing route is safe,” the statement quoted him as saying.
But the governor, according to Yusuf, went beyond his brief.
“Even Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, who is not a petroleum engineer, unexpectedly exceeded his knowledge boundaries by alleging impossible scenarios. Douye Diri, who holds a B.Ed in Political Science from the University of Port Harcourt, said the Nembe spill is worse than the Gulf of Mexico spill. This is also extreme misinformation stemming from willful ignorance or dark motive.
“The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the global petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ix toc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Comparisons between the two or three scenarios bespeak mischievous conspiracy. Politicisation of the Nembe spill will only serve to undermine the industry.
“More importantly, when journalists finally visited the location last Thursday, they realised that the extent of the spill had been grossly exaggerated beyond the reality they met on ground. The questions are: Who are those behind this plot? Who is paying for it? Who benefits from these damaging stories based on ignorance and outright fake news?
“The governor, who was out of the country when this spill happened, did not feel the urgency to cut short his trip to return and supervise the cleanup. He rather chose to spend time and enjoy himself fully before heading home – only to sheepishly and ridiculously describe it as comparable to the Gulf of Mexico spill.
“What benefits could the governor possibly garner from a disaster he should also be in the forefront of aiding genuine mitigation and stability? Granted it is within his legitimate rights to protect his citizens, this should align with scientific templates of managing spills as obtained elsewhere in the industry.”
Commending Aiteo for moving swiftly to save the situation at Nembe, Yusuf said, “Immediately the blowout in question occurred, Aiteo followed professional procedure and alerted the regulatory agencies and activated critical technical and community-focused interventions. Journalists who visited the wellhead blowout at ground zero this week saw for themselves the extensive efforts deployed to cage and remediate the situation.
“What they observed contrasted sharply with a lot of the disinformation being peddled by forces hostile to Aiteo for whatever reasons. According to the oil company, Aiteo’s officials are closely monitoring all activities related to the affected communities, viz feeding, lighting, hygiene, drinking water and medical requirements with the help of local associations.
“Aiteo’s safety and security and HSE teams are also monitoring the quality of air every six hours to ascertain the livability of the areas adjoining ground zero. Aiteo is mobilising additional relief materials for the affected communities.
“The presidency and relevant agencies, on their part, have responded admirably in containing the Nembe spill and also providing stability. But from closer examination, it appears this conspiracy is an attempt to sabotage and rubbish the image of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. All the President’s efforts at reorganising and reforming the crucial sector are being targeted by some forces, whose motives are diabolical, and they want to capitalise on this spill by exaggerating its impact beyond the scope of what is on the ground. Ultimately, they want to use it to undermine the Federal Government and claim that the administration is not working and all of that hogwash. They have already imputed that government officials are compromised on the issue. Compromised by who and for what purpose?
“Instead of acknowledging that Aiteo is working with government officials to clean up the spill and bring the situation under control as should be expected, these diabolical agents, are very willing to cast aspersions on the integrity of these officials in furtherance of their dangerous obsession with Benedict Peters, driven primarily by the aim to target and destroy individual reputations and integrity of corporate concerns built over several years.
“The hydrocarbon industry, though coming with its peculiar hazards, remains very important to human civilisation. When incidents like this occur, they must be professionally managed as is being done currently and not dangerously politicised or mischaracterised by forces with dark motives,” Yusuf said.
RELIEF EFFORTS ONGOING
In order to bring relief to the communities impacted by the accident, Aiteo has continued to offer humanitarian assistance with the donation of five truckloads of palliatives, including food and medical supplies, to the Nembe kingdom. The items received by the community leaders were stored at the Opu – Nembe town hall for onward distribution to the communities directly affected by the spill.
Some of the items are 10 cows, 500 bags of rice, 500 cartons of Noodles ,500 cartons of water, 500 tubers of yam, 200 cartons of milk, 200 bags of garri, 200 cartons of tin tomato,100 cartons of beverages and 100 cartons of vegetable oil. Others are 100 Knorr seasoning cubes, 100 bags of salt, 100 bags of Ariel soap, jerry cans of palm oil, six digital thermometers, blood pressure machines, two sugar testing kits,150 packs of Coartem for malaria, five packs of PCM,five cartons of Detoil , 40 mosquito nets, Vitamin C and fully- equipped first aid boxes.
Receiving the materials on behalf of the communities impacted by the spillage, the Chairman of Opu – Nembe Council of Chiefs, Chief Ori Ango Ekpeleyai – Oruwari, who spoke on behalf of the Nembe monarch, said, “On behalf of the Amanyanabo of Opu – Nembe Kingdom, l receive these relief materials that are coming to our community for the second time. For those who are directly impacted in the spill from OML 29 at Santa Barbara, we are indeed very grateful to Aiteo for bringing these relief materials.”
On the ongoing relief efforts, Aiteo’s GMD, Okoronkwo, confirmed that relief materials such as mosquito nets, hygiene and sanitary kits, disinfectants and foodstuff, are being mobilised to the immediate communities impacted by the spill.
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS
Although the real cause of the oil leakage is still shrouded in mystery, Aiteo’s spokesman, Ndianabasi Mathew, disputed the claim that the Santa Barbara well site location makes it difficult to believe that Aiteo was solely responsible for the spill.
“The Santa Barbara field is not in the Atlantic Ocean. The location is onshore and there have been many spills from other sources. Those heaps of sludge have been there before the incident,” Ndianabasi said in a statement.
However, a technical expert, Engr Igbini Odafe Emmanuel, while commenting on what he called ‘the truth about Nembe 1 Oil Wellhead spill,’ maintained that despite all the reasons being adduced for the leakage, “it is not a high pressure gas blowout.”
The engineer and environmental activist said, “It is no big deal to cause unnecessary fear and hype around the leakage…”
CALM AFTER THE STORM
A well control specialist, Victor Ekpenyong, has however commended Aiteo for its quick response to the spill, despite the ongoing campaign of calumny.
In a note to THEWILL, Ekpenyong said, “The SBAR-01 Well at Santa Barbara South field in Nembe Local Government of Bayelsa State, which is currently under well control situation due to wellhead vandalisation by unknown persons, as reported on November 5, 2021, is currently being worked on by wild well control experts, to arrest the source of the leakage and secure the well.
“The well was last known to be producing about 700bpd of hydrocarbon fluid and would as of today have spilled an estimated volume of about 18,000 bpd of hydrocarbon fluid to the environment, as against the two (2) million barrels of oil wrongly reported.
“The operator, Aiteo Eastern E and P Company, must be commended for being proactive to contain the spill since inception by immediately informing all regulatory agencies and stakeholders, mobilising containment resources (Spill booms) to limit impact to the environment and carrying out joint investigative visit (JIV) to site with the appropriate authorities.
“We want to commend his Excellency, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Douye Diri, for finding time to visit the site of the spill and assessing the current situation. We also commend the management of Aiteo, who made out time to visit the site immediately and had a first-hand assessment of the situation.
“Aiteo in (its) quest to arrest the situation engaged an experienced well control expert company with industry best equipment whose recent accomplishment in wild well control was in April this year with one of the marginal field operators in a swamp location on a well with a worse but similar vandalised situation than the current one. Well control equipment was deployed, and the well was brought under control without further damages, safety Incident or fatality.
“The well control situation is being worked on and the well will be brought under control soon. The most important thing during well control is having the expertise, equipment, resources and the patience. These factors must be in place to ensure the operation is carried out safely without further damages or fatality as this is a very dangerous environment.
“We have had several wild well control situations in the country, for instance the K.S. Endeavour fatal incident in January 2012, which took about two months for proper planning and execution of well control strategies before it was successfully killed and secured.
“The recent and similar wild well successfully killed and secured by the engaged well control experts took about a month of planning and execution, amid the challenges faced when working in the creek, to successfully achieve. Also, the Deepwater Horizon wellhead blowout of the Gulf of Mexico incident, which lasted more than five months, is worse than this and cannot be compared to it, as it had a total spill of about 4.9 million barrels of hydrocarbon fluid in the environment.
“Similarly, proper planning and execution is ongoing on the current well and soon this wild well will be brought under control without any safety incident or fatality.
“All that is required at this time is a call for calm and patience by all stakeholders and a joint effort to encourage the ongoing effort to secure the well by Aiteo and the well control experts.”
***additional reports from OKIOMA AMOS in Yenagoa
About the Author
Olaolu OLUSINA is the Editor, THEWILL Newspaper.
