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Bayelsa: NOSDRA, environmentalists lament Conoil’s insensitivity to oil spill

A group, undertheaegis of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency, Environmentalists have expressed concern over the impact of the operations of Conoil Producing Limited on the Bayelsa State environment.

This is as the group won dered why the indigenous oil firm was not sensitive to the sustenance of the environment where it operates and was yet to respond to an undersea leakage from its oilfield in the state since September 3, 2020. Meanwhile, the Director- General of National Oil Spills DetectionandResponseAgency( NOSDRA), IdrisMusaconfirmed the incident yesterday, and berated the company for operating in breach of regulatory guidelines.

The spill response agency, however, noted that the oil firm was in the habit of causing avoidable spills and sanctioned for degrading the environment, saying: “This oil company has been spilling oil for a period of time now. And we just got this report and from what we found, it is from an underwater pipeline under pressure creating bubbles on the water surface.” But, Abiodun Azeez, the Media Relations Manager for Conoil Production declined comments on the allegations of flouting the regulatory guidelines on oil spills by NOSDRA. Musa added: “All the directives given to it to contain the oil spill, shut down and replace the leaking pipeline near shore in Sangana, Bay- elsa State fell into deaf ears. The agency sanctioned the company for this untoward act, but nothing has changed.

The leakage continues and the oil company behaves irresponsibly even though it is a Nigerian Oil Company.” It was learnt that the leakage emanated from Conoils’s facility – the ‘Aunty Julie platform’ within Oil Mining Lease (OML) 59 at Otuo Oilfield.

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