By Adewale Sanyaolu
There is growing anger in Bayelsa community over a two-week continuous oil spill from one of the oil wells operated by Aiteo Eastern and Production
The leak, according to local residents and politicians, is threatening the environment and local economy.
Local residents shared videos with Reuters from November 13 and November 14 showing oil spewing from the wellhead in the Nembe area of the Delta, one of the most polluted places on earth after decades of spills that have hurt farming and fishing.
They said the oil was still gushing out on Friday, two weeks after the initial spill.
“Governor Douye Diri is gravely concerned that if the high volume of crude being spilled continuously is not stopped immediately, it will spread to many more communities and undermine the economic life of residents,” his spokesman said.
But Aiteo, in its response made available to Daily Sun, said there is resolve to limit the escape of oil and protect the ecosystem from its effects.
The well, which is not in production, was purchased from Royal Dutch Shell in 2015.
Aiteo previously said it had not determined the cause of the leak but did not rule out sabotage or an attempt to steal crude, both common in the restive, economically deprived area.
Community leader Nimibofa Degi told Reuters that Aiteo had ignored the community’s initial reports of the leak and said locals had said they could see corrosion in the wellhead casing.
“Rather than look inwards at their safety procedures for such high pressure wells they are pointing accusing fingers at innocent people,” he said.
Aiteo said it remains committed to ascertaining, immediately the well head is secure, the immediate and remote causes of the leak which will be driven by a JIV that will follow.
‘‘Nevertheless, it is important that we affirm our preliminary view, based on our assessment of the proximate circumstances, that it will be difficult to exclude deliberate tampering of the well by oil thieves attempting to siphon crude directly from the well head. In our view, sabotage remains the most imminent cause of this incident.
According to Aiteo, oil theft and asset vandalism continues to present the biggest challenges it faces in the operations of oil and gas production in the Niger Delta area, saying it has continued to damage the production profile of oil producers in so many ways.