Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of the NNPC/Aiteo Joint Venture, has announced the resumption of production at Oil Mining License (OML 29) in Nembe swamp field, Bayelsa State, after it was shut down due to oil leak in the facility.
Aiteo had in a statement by its Group Managing Director, Victor Okoronkwo, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 announced the shutting down of the facility and deployed its Oil Spill and Emergency Response Team to the field.
But few days after, Okoronkwo disclosed in a statement that following the completion of the joint investigative visit to the spill site by all stakeholders as required by regulations, AEEPCO will reopen its facilities for production while continuing other statutory spill management protocols concurrently.
He said: “After a comprehensive evaluation of our operations and infrastructure at the Nembe Swamp Field, we are delighted to confirm the resumption of production activities.
“Our dedicated team has worked diligently to address the issues caused by the recent incident and implemented enhanced safety protocols to prevent future occurrences. We have engaged with regulatory bodies, local communities, and stakeholders to ensure transparency and accountability throughout this process.”
Daily Trust gathered that the 97-kilometre Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL) that hitherto fed the Bonny Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State has since been discarded by the indigenous firm which acquired the Nembe field from Shell in 2015.
This is due to persistent vandalism on the oil export line which has the capacity to evacuate 180,000 barrels of crude daily. Consequently, Aiteo had resorted to using barges to convey crude from the Nembe fields.
The barges are used to transport crude from onshore oil wells to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel from which Aiteo exports the Nembe Crude blend to crude tankers in the Atlantic Ocean.
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