Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited has admitted another oil spill from its facility at Qua Iboe oil field but declined to disclose the volume of crude lost in the fresh spill, which brings to three the number of such incidents since January this year.
It would be recalled that coastal communities near the Qua Iboe oil fields encountered oil spills on December 4, 2009, March 24, 2010 and May 1, 2010 and again on June 21, 2010.
The volume of the latest oil spill is now a subject of controversy between MPN, an affiliate of America Oil giant, ExxonMobil, and the Nigerian based agency in charge of spills, the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).
Sources told THISDAY that the latest spill was recorded from an oil well tagged “Idoho-Usari” about 20 kilometers off the shoreline.
The spill which occurred on June 20, 2010 was reportedly communicated to the supervising federal agency, NOSDRA, on June 21 Mobil authories said on June 20, deposits of weathered hydrocarbon were found along the shoreline of Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, and immediately deployed a team to inspect the area. The said sections of the shoreline with oiling will be cleaned without much ado.
“MPN continues to monitor the area for clean up of any residual deposits arising from the May 1 oil leak incident”, a statement signed by Mrs. Gloria E. Essien-Danner, Executive Director and General Manager, Public and Government Affairs of the oil major, stressed.
Mobil in the statement, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY, restated its commitment to maintaining high safety, health and environmental standards in their operations. Mobil said it was committed to the well being of the neighbouring communities.
NOSDRA’s Zonal Director at Uyo field office, Mr. Irvine Obot, said: “The Spill has been reported to us and we have observed that the volume claimed by the oil firm is doubtful, because the oil deposits were sighted at the shoreline. If the volume was insignificant as claimed, it will not get to shoreline which is about 20 kilometers from the spill location.
“We hope to engage officials of the oil company on all the grey areas while we run tests on the samples we collected and we expect the results in a few days from now.
“We got reports of the incident and responded by deploying staff to the spill site before they reported to us.”
According to him, the oil spill agency detected the oil spill last week Monday at the Qua Iboe oil fields and subsequently commenced investigation on the spill incident to determined the cause and impact on the marine environment among other things.