Olusegun Ariyo
The development follows an oil leak on the pipeline at Obololi community, a coastline community along the River Nun in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area in Bayelsa State.
Mr. Chukuwemka Woke, Director-General of, the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) said that the spill occurred on Feb. 16 and was reported on Feb. 17.
The shutdown was announced in a statement by Mr Michael Adande, a Spokesman for SPDC in a reaction to a response request after the spill.
According to the statement, the shutdown had stopped the leak while remediation efforts were ongoing to contain the spread of the crude and its impact on the environment.
Adande said: “The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), operator of the SPDC Joint Venture (SPDC JV), confirms that its Oil Spill Response Team has identified a leak from one of the SPDC JV assets located in the Obololi community, Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa state.
“The Team immediately isolated the line and suspended production into the line.
“The regulatory authorities and other stakeholders have been notified. Plan to conduct a regulator-led Joint Investigation Visit (JIV), to determine the cause and impact of the spill is ongoing.”
Although the SPDC did not specify the oil production volume affected by the shutdown, the 16-inch pipeline evacuates oil produced from various oil fields within Bayelsa swamps and feeds the SPDC’s manifold in Kolo.
The NOSDRA DG said on Thursday that the cause of the leak and the estimated volume discharged had yet to be determined because the pipeline was beneath the river.
The regulator said that it has recommended a diversion of the river to a temporary dam to give access to the joint investigating team to the leak point for examination.
It will be recalled that following the contamination of the Nun River, Chief Target Segibo, Chairman of Southern Ijaw LGA, who earlier visited the impacted Obololi community, pledged to provide an alternative water source for the people.
