Samuel Oyadongha
27 December 2011, Sweetcrude, Yenagoa – THE Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCo, yesterday said the remnants of the oil spill from its Bonga oil field could not have reached Odioma community in Brass council area of Bayesa and other parts of the Niger Delta as claimed.
In a statement signed by a Shell spokesman, Precious Okolobo said the Bonga oil field leakage had since been dispersed and could not have spread more than 120 kilometers away.
The SPDC Statement reads, “Satellite imagery and aerial surveillance indicates that the remnants of the oil spill from Bonga could not have reached either the Odioma coastline or other parts of the Niger Delta, as has been suggested.
“By Sunday, December 25th, the oil from Bonga had largely dispersed. However, around the same time as our efforts to clean up the Bonga oil offshore were coming to a successful conclusion, we noticed a clear trail of oil that we believe could not have been from Bonga more than 120 kilometers away. This trail of oil was fresh and clearly from a vessel given the distinctly different colour, shape and smell.
“As any good corporate citizen, we immediately began to address this fresh spill with dispersants. Unfortunately, our efforts were not completely successful and we now know some of the oil has hit isolated parts of the beach. Though this oil did not come from Bonga, we will clean it up. We have also taken samples of this oil which will be analysed by an independent lab. We are confident the results will show the oil on the beach or in these areas is not from the Bonga facility.”
