By Eyo Nsima
Barely a month after an attack on Cawthorne Channel Well head 15, Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited has suffered another attack on its wellhead.
According to the company, as was the case with the earlier incident, this recent spill also occurred in the Cawthorne Channel field, well head 047 Long string (CAWC047L).
The CAWC-047 wild oil spill was observed in the morning hours of Saturday July 10, 2022.
CAWC047L/S is a dual string well, the Long String arm was shut-in in April 2020 due to flowline vandalization and in July 2020, the Short String arm was also shut-in for same reasons.
A distant look at the well shows the absence of some wellhead valves on the body of the XMAS TREE.
Speaking on behalf of Eroton Exploration and Production company limited, the Head of External Affairs and Corporate Communications Mercy Max-Ebibai, who confirmed the incident, stated that the spill was observed at about 07 45hrs coming from the wing valve arm of the CAWC047L.
She noted that the facility was vandalised while the valves, control panels, bean-box and actuators were all carted away.
The well was observed to be releasing uncontrolled flow of hydrocarbon to the environment from the long string due to the confirmed compromised and vandalized XMAS Tree containment valves of the wellhead.
She further confirmed that despite the high-pressure emission of crude, the Eroton Emergency Response Team have been working around the clock to abate the situation.
A quick intervention initiated to shut-in the well through the master valve was abortive because the master valve appeared to have been compromised in a stuck position.
The control line of the emergency downhole safety valve was also reported to be compromised, consequently affecting the activation, and functioning of the emergency downhole safety system.
Efforts are in progress to rectify all the faulty valves on the Christmas tree which were found stuck in closed position. A first response has also been activated for containment and recovery.
Due to the administrative challenges occasioned by the public holidays, statutory notification to regulators can only be accomplished by Wednesday July 13, 2022.
An electronic incident notification has however been sent to the relevant regulators in the interim.
Wild well control experts are expected to visit the site tomorrow to have an assessment of the current situation and design a solution to keep the well under control.
Eroton who has just mobilized an oil spill control vendors to the previous oil spill site at CAWC15, joins a long list of operators complaining of the anti-economic activities and sabotage by vandals and oil thieves with recent reports from industry regulator, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, confirming the activities of oil thieves in quarter one, Q1 of year 2022 alone amounting to $1billion.
Eroton E&P is Nigeria’s foremost indigenous Oil & Gas Company. It is the Operator of OML 18 on behalf of the NNPC/Eroton/Sahara Joint Venture. OML 18 oil field is situated in the Eastern Niger Delta and covers a total area of 1,035 SQKM in an onshore swamp terrain.
