Community panics over deadly gas leak from NPDC oil well
Bayelsa community panics over deadly gas leak from NPDC oil well
There is rising panic in Okpoama Kingdom of Brass Local Government Area in Bayelsa State due to a deadly gas leak from an oil well belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
The gas leak occurred along the Bendick-Kiri axis of the Kingdom and is spewing gas into the surrounding environment from the well’s head, known as the “Christmas Tree.”
The oil well, located in OML 66 and recorded as Kurogbagba 1, has reportedly been leaking for the past five days.
According to residents, a hissing sound from the intense pressure forcing the gas out of the wellhead can be heard from over a kilometre away, which has forced fishermen to evacuate their settlement out of fear of a fire outbreak.
Mr. Monday Okon, the head of the fishermen in Bendick Kiri, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, confirmed that everyone has left the area due to the gas smell and the fear of a fire outbreak.
“We are afraid the place will be in flames because we are very close to the oil well. If we catch fish, we can’t dry them. I am here because the community asked me to stay nearby and inform them when people come,” he said.
Okon mentioned that this is the third time it has happened, but it has not been this serious.
In May 2023, the 53-year-old abandoned oil well experienced a leakage, which was contained, but it blew out again on October 20, 2023.
Comrade Tarinyo Akono, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, who visited the site on October 23, 2023, described the well blowout as intense and extremely dangerous for the people and the environment.
“I was there in May this year when there was a blowout, and I was there for this sad occurrence. The livelihood of the people has been severely affected. I have called on the NPDC to address these wells, and there are over fifty of them,” he said.
