An explosion rocked an oil field operated by Eroton Exploration and Production Limited in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) confirmed the incident on Tuesday.
NOSDRA made the confirmation after it received a report of a fire incident at two oil wells operated by the oil firm.
The Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr. Idris Musa, said that the twin incidents occurred at Akaso Wells 14 and 4T Wellheads in Rivers on Monday.
Musa further said following the notification of the incident to the NOSDRA, its officials, the company and oil firm’s Emergency Response Team were immediately alerted and mobilised to the scene.
He said, “The company has mobilized a vendor, which is expected to arrive at the incident location today, October 4, 2022 to extinguish the raging fire from the Wells. The Agency will supervise the activity accordingly.
“An illegal boat was observed at the location, which was suspected to be engaged in oil theft. The boat has been completely burnt but the fire on the boat has been extinguished. The two wells are, however, still on fire until the vendor arrives to extinguish it.”
The NOSDRA Director General stated that a situation room was created by the company for effective communication with all relevant stakeholders.
Musa explained that NOSDRA subsequently directed the company to give an update on the incident every two hours.