Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, spilled into communities in Rivers and Bayelsa States, a total of 276 barrels of crude oil in three incidents, in April 2021.
The 276 barrels of crude is the cumulative volume of spill from a section of the 14-inch Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline, which transverses Bayelsa and Rivers communities, in the month under review.
Data from the oil firm’s spill incident portal indicates that two of the spills were caused by sabotage while one was traced to equipment failure.
According to Joint Investigation Visit reports on the incidents, the leaks which occurred at Ikarama community in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on April 7th traceable to equipment failure, caused a leakage of 110 barrels into the environment.
Similarly, the leak incident on April 13th 2031, at Ihuowu in Ahoada, Rivers State attributed to sabotage by the JIV report caused a spill of 157 barrels of crude.
Also, on April 14 at Ukpeliede in Rivers, the same Okordia-Rumekpe trunkline was breached by vandals leaving a leak of nine barrels.
According to the SPDC’s spills records, oil spill response activities were ongoing at the spill sites while recovery of spilled crude would be completed later in May 2021.
SPDC also reported that it has concluded investigation in seven spill incidents from its operations across the Niger Delta, with a total spilled volume of 435.01 barrels of crude.
Of the seven leak incidents, six were caused by sabotage while one was traced to equipment failure and corrosion.
