Oil firm reacts as explosion engulfs offshore exploration facility in Delta
The management of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) in has confirmeded the unfortunate incident of a fire that engulfed its offshore facility, the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Trinity Spirit located at the Ukpokiti teminal, following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday, 2nd of February 2022.
According to the management, in a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ikemefuna Okafor, and made available to newsmen, the cause of the explosion was currently being investigated and they were working with necessary parties to contain the situation.
The statement read in part: “At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were ten crew men
on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security.
“We appreciate the assistance provided us by the Clean Nigeria Associates, the Chevron team operating in the nearby Escravos facility and our community stakeholders as well as fishermen, who have been of tremendous assistance since the incident happened.
“We have duly notified all relevant authorities and we appeal to members of the public to stay away from the area while our crisis management team continue to monitor the situation and update all stakeholders with new information as the investigation evolves.”
According to Politics Nigeria, the FPSO vessel exploded and sunk at the Ukpokiti terminal, around Excravos, Warri, Delta state.
Available reports say the exploded vessel has a capacity to process up to 22,000 barrels of oil per day, inject up to 40,000 barrels of water per day and store 2 million barrels of oil.
The huge facility, Trinity Spirit, was built in 1976, with a carrying capacity of 274,774 Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT) and overall length of 337.05 meters as well as a width of 54.5 meters.
The asset is owned by Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL) which in 2004 acquired all of 40 per cent of ConocoPhillips equity interest in OML 108.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there were casualties due to the massive fire which erupted on-board the vessel, but it was learnt that about 10 persons were within the the facility when the incident occurred.
