Nigeria — Search called off for 2 missing foreign workers off Nigeria’s coast after fire.
Two foreign workers are presumed dead after an offshore rig exploded off Nigeria’s coast, officials said Thursday, the second such incident in the last month the oil-rich West African nation.
Chevron Corp. said in a statement early Thursday that it had stopped searching for the two missing workers after rescuing 152 others from the burning shallow-water rig, 6 miles (10 kilometers) off Nigeria’s coast.
“On behalf of Chevron, we extend our sincere condolences to the families of the missing individuals,” said Chevron official Andrew Fawthrop.
The two worked for FODE Drilling Ltd., which was operating the on Chevron’s behalf, said FODE Operations Manager Ian Laidlaw. He declined to give nationalities.
Chevron said it was investigating the fire from the gas exploration well, which occurred near its North Apoi oil platform and which forced it to shut down. However, Nigeria’s government believes a “gas kick” — a major build-up of gas pressure from drilling — was responsible, said Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.
Chevron and other foreign oil companies in Nigeria pump crude oil in partnership with the state-run company. But experts say oil companies largely regulate themselves in a country where safety procedures are not enforced. Lawmakers approved a motion Thursday to investigate the cause of the incident and measure the losses it caused.
“It not’s enough for government to be looking for compensation,” said Nigerian safety consultant Jeff ‘vwede Obafor, “we should be heavy on prevention and professional discipline.”
A satellite image showed that the fire was at least 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 730 Celsius), “hot enough to soften steel,” an independent watchdog group called SkyTruth said on its website.
Residents in the coastal community of Koluama 1 in Bayelsa State told the Nigerian group Environmental Rights Action the fire that has been burning for more than three days has made life difficult.
“Fishes are dying in great numbers in the ocean,” community chief Christian Munghanbofa-Akpele told Environmental Rights Action. “Apart from the dead fishes, we are even scared of eating those that may be caught alive because of the pollutants in the environment.”
Even at night, “everywhere is orange-red,” said Anna Orumo, another resident.
The accident comes just over three weeks after Nigeria saw its worst offshore oil spill in more than a decade.
The Royal Dutch Shell PLC spill from its Bonga deep-water field discovered on Dec. 20 was contained before reaching the West African nation’s coast, 75 miles (120 kilometers) away, Shell officials said. However, the company acknowledged that workers only discovered the leak after daylight broke, noticing a sheen surrounding the Bonga vessel. In the meantime, less than 40,000 barrels — or 1.68 million gallons — had already bled into the Atlantic Ocean.
Shell had said it would clean up another spill it discovered while containing their own, which the company said it had not caused.
Nigeria, an OPEC nation, is the fifth-largest crude oil exporter to the U.S. Nigeria and has proven natural gas reserves of about 5.29 trillion cubic meters. It produces about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day. However, more than 50 years of oil and gas production has taken a heavy environmental toll.
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