TotalEnergies has said, Thursday that oil production is not affected by the Egina field leak, assuring that it is actively managing an oil spill that occurred on November 15 during loading operations.
It was reported that Charles Ebereonwu, the company’s Communication Manager in Nigeria, confirmed that the spill did not affect oil production at the site.
TotalEnergies is conducting aerial surveillance and applying dispersants, considering further actions for containment.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is collaborating with spill detection agencies and the oil industry regulator to contain the spill, Osagie Edward, NIMASA’s Public Relations Officer, stated that the spill volume is not confirmed yet.
While the exact amount of spilt oil is not determined, NIMASA reported that shoreline communities closest to Egina, such as Andoni, Qua-Iboe terminals, Bonny Island, Opobo/Nkoro, and Eastern Obolo, have not been affected so far.
The Oil Spill Response Limited from the UK is supporting pollution control measures. NIMASA’s Director General, Bashir Jimoh, emphasized the collaboration with all stakeholders to control pollution and prevent similar incidents in the future, aligning with the MARPOL Convention’s guidelines for marine pollution prevention.
According to him, NIMASA has been liaising with other organs of government to ensure the pollution is effectively controlled and managed, to protect the marine environment and the communities close to the incident point.
TotalEnergies commenced production at the Egina field on December 29, 2018. Situated around 1,600 meters deep in water and 150 kilometres away from Nigeria’s coastline, this field is an essential part of the country’s oil production, capable of producing 200,000 barrels of oil per day. This output represents about 10% of Nigeria’s overall oil production.
The Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit utilized for the Egina field’s development is the largest one ever built by Total.
The license renewal for the OML 130 block, announced by TotalEnergies on May 29, 2023, includes both the Akpo and Egina fields.
This block, positioned 150 kilometres off Nigeria’s coast, yielded a production of 282,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022.
Recent data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) indicates that the Egina field extracted 2,866,010 barrels of crude oil in October 2023, meanwhile, the field produced 3,230,325 barrels of crude as of January 2023.
TotalEnergies holds a 24% interest in operating OML 130, collaborating with partners like CNOOC (45%), Sapetro (15%), Prime 130 (16%), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which serves as the concessionaire of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC).
SOURCE: Nairametrics