By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has said that the oil spill from TotalEnergies Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel isn’t a minor one as the cleanup process is still ongoing.
Based on our findings, the EGINA oil spill occurred while crude was being loaded from the Egina FPSO to a vessel on 15th November, 2023.
In response of the incident, TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria Limited, Country Communications Manager, Dr. Charles Ebereonwu, confirmed the leak in a terse statement obtained by The Energy Republic, stating that the oil spill was a minor one and had been contained with appropriate remedial measures.
In his words, “This is not a massive leak and the sheen has been treated with the appropriate response that resulted in a reduction of most of it.
“No shoreline or communities have been impacted,” Mr Ebereonwu said, affirming that crude oil production at the 200,000 barrels per day capacity facility, with a storage capacity of 2.3 million barrels of crude, “was not affected by the incident.”
Speaking in a media chat with journalists, the Director-General of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Idris Musa, said that the spill was not a minor one, noting that the agency including TotalEnergies and other industry players are on the ground in tracing and tracking the oil slick and supervising response efforts.
However, this revelation contradicts TotalEnergies’ claims of minimal impact, saying: “This is not a massive leak, and the sheen has been treated with the appropriate response that resulted in a reduction of most of it,” thereby underscoring the need for greater transparency regarding information on such issues.
Speaking further, Mr Musa said: “NOSDRA deployed personnel led by a director to the site, and we have remained on the spill site as well as granting the requisite approvals to hasten the response.”
He explained that the agency deployed high-level personnel and activated the National Oil Spills Contingency Plan to contain the spill, adding that NOSDRA and TotalEnergies are working hard in tackling the pollution to minimize its environmental impact.
Mr Musa explained that TotalEnergies took steps that made the response swift and effective, adding that other oil companies assisted in the response.
He stressed that the oil spill cleanup process would also require a collaborative response from oil industry players, noting that they have deployed aircraft including five vessels in the application of 15,000 liters of liquids to clean the waters so far.