Nigeria's Senate Committee okays Shell clean-up Efforts

Senator Bukola Saraki

Nigeria's Senate Committee okays Shell clean-up Efforts

The Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology in Nigerian has expressed satisfaction with the efforts of Shell to clean-up the oil spill from the Bonga Field, which is located 120 kilometres offshore Nigeria.

The Senate recalled members of its committee on Environment from the Christmas and New Year recess over the Bonga oil spill, regarded as the worst in a decade.

Addressing journalists in Lagos State, south west Nigeria, Senator Bukola Saraki, stated that most of the spills had been cleaned when his team visited the area.

He said “We have been able to fly over the site and it is clear that a lot of work has been done by Shell to see to the clearing of the spillage. Most of the spills that had occurred were not there to be seen. There were a lot of operations and planes and helicopters were coming to spread dispersants that they used to address the spill. By and large, it was clear that there was a very prompt response that was very effective. They are doing their best to ensure that the spillage was contained.”

Cause of spill

Senator Saraki stated that Shell attributed the spill to the failure of one of the three export lines between the Floating Production Storage and Offshore (FPSO) vessel and the export tanker.

He promised that detailed investigations would be carried out to ascertain why the export line gave up.

The Senate committee chairman noted that the leak had stopped as “Shell, responsibly stopped operation and oil production in that place.”

According to Senator Saraki, members of the committee also flew into Forcados where there was some oil at the shoreline but pointed out that at the moment, it was not clear whether it was a new spill from a third party, as Shell claimed, or the same spill coming from Bonga.

“But Shell and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), as well as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) have been directed to carry out independent examination to know if this oil is from Bonga. It is very easy to ascertain if this oil is coming from Bonga. In the process of that; it is our intention to also appeal to the communities in that area to cooperate so that the test can be done,” Senator Saraki said.

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