Mobil Nigeria Confirms Oil Spill

03-05-2008

Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) has confirmed the oil spill at the Idoho crude oil pipeline of the Qua Iboe Crude Oil Export Terminal in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, last weekend.

A statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Eket stated that traces of crude oil were sighted near the shoreline around Ibeno, near Eket.

The statement jointly signed by MPN and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said that the oil firm had notified the Department of Petroleum Resources and other relevant government agencies of the development.

Mrs Gloria Essien-Danner, the Executive Director, MPN, signed the statement on behalf of the joint venture. NAN checks in Ibeno revealed that a clean up exercise for the oil spill had entered the fourth day at the Ibeno beach.

Some fishermen, who spoke to NAN in Ibeno, said the oil spill occurred at the offshore Idoho Crude Oil Production platform between Thursday and Friday and spread to the coast on Monday.

“We noticed the spillage at sea at the weekend when we saw dead fishes floating at sea, later Mobil deployed in Navy and Marine Police to patrol the place,” Lucky Annang, a fisherman, said.