Another oil spill at Mobil’s Qua Iboe field

Eket— Mobil Producing Nigeria,  MPN, has reported an oil spill from its Qua Iboe oil fields, in Akwa Ibom State.

Mr. Idris Musa, Director in charge of oil spills in the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency,  NOSDRA, told News Agency of Nigeria, yesterday, that the agency had received a report of the incident.

He said: “We received a report from Mobil that there was a spill at their field and we have dispatched our officers from our Uyo office to the spill site to assess the impact.

“They are estimating that the spilled volume is between 50 and 100 barrels, but that is a mere estimate because the investigation would determine precisely the quantity of oil discharged into the environment.”

It will be recalled that two spills had occurred within the Qua Iboe oil fields operated by Mobil on August 13 and 23, 2012.

Mr. Paul Arinze, the General Manager, Public and Inter-Governmental Affairs, said in a response statement on the incident yesteray, that an investigation was underway.

He said: “Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, MPN, operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC/MPN, Joint Venture, confirms that on November 9, an oil release occurred offshore Akwa Ibom State.

“The source of the leak was identified and the pipeline was isolated and shut down. Emergency response personnel and equipment have been deployed.

“Regulatory and community representatives have been notified.

“MPN also arranged for representatives of Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR; NOSDRA, Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Environment and local community to overfly the area.”

The oil firm regretted the incident and reiterated its commitment to maintain high safety, health and environmental standards within its operations.