AITEO enlists Boots & Coots in Santa Barbara well kill

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Indigenous petroleum firm, Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), has declared intensified oilspill response and wild well control at its operated Santa Barbara oilfield, Bayelsa State.

The company declared in a media statement it has enlisted the services of Boots & Coots to support local well control resources in arresting the spill in a preliminary measure that would pave way for clean up and remediation.

Aiteo also stated that crude oil thieving syndicates are suspected to have tampered with the well which it described as dormant and isolated since the company acquired the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 assets from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited.

“As hitherto stated, an accurate cause of the leak has not been ascertained as both priority and attention has been focused on containing the consequences of this most undesirable and unforeseen incident,” the company clarified.

The company stated that Aiteo’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Benedict Peters, is leading reach out with host communities with assurances that the company was doing “everything in our power to contain this spill and ameliorate the situation as rapidly, safely and responsibly as possible.”

“We have mobilized best-in-class resources and expertise to put this mishap behind us. Be rest assured of our resolve to limit the escape of oil and protect the ecosystem from its effects,” he declared.

Aiteo stated that it engaged Boots & Coots to work with a local resource to kill the well, adding that an assessment visit for the exercise has been carried out to evaluate the assets and earmark the required resources.

The required apparatus including heavy duty and specialist equipment are presently being mobilized, locally and internationally, on a fast-track basis, to bring the well under control; the company stated.

Aiteo stated that it has notified all relevant industry regulators and mobilized containment resources to limit the impact of the spill on the environment, adding however that attempted joint investigation visit was aborted after the inspection team could not reach the location due to high pressure of the effusion.

The rest of the statement reads:

“The typical process is to first kill the well and stop the leak and then focus on the clean-up. Aside urgent possible technical responses to contain the leak, Aiteo has sought,  become involved with and is now in active collaboration with Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA) that have since mobilized to site, in addition to Aiteo internal resources to  reinforce containment and recovery efforts. CNA is the industry non-profit umbrella body with expertise and resource to contain spills of this nature. In the meantime however, the area has been cordoned off and CNA is mobilizing additional resources to strengthen the containment effort.

“Aiteo senior personnel have also visited the affected communities and made available, for the use of the communities, relief materials aimed at ameliorating the direct consequences of the incident.

“Aiteo remains committed to ascertaining, immediately the well head is secure, the immediate and remote causes of the leak which will be driven by a JIV that will follow.  Nevertheless, it is important that we affirm our preliminary view, based on our assessment of the proximate circumstances, that it will be difficult to exclude deliberate tampering of the well by oil thieves attempting to siphon crude directly from the well head. In our view, sabotage remains the most imminent cause of this incident.

“Oil theft and asset vandalism continues to present the biggest challenge we face in the operations of oil and gas production in the Niger Delta area.  It has continued to damage the production profile of oil producers in so many ways.  As we commend the relevant security agencies with whom we interface to combat this menace, we believe the need and capacity to provide significantly more remain overwhelmingly critical especially because there is so much more to be done to realign the architecture of the delivery infrastructure of oil and gas production in Nigeria in line with the current industry structure of multiple producers operating assets that were previously built and managed by one producer.

“Aiteo feels deeply concerned on the occurrence of the incident at all. The circumstances and fortunes of the immediate community remains our most anxious consideration and, at this time, has assumed the highest priority, alongside making safe the well and its immediate environs.  It is our fervent desire that in the attainment of this intensely challenging objective, the interests of the proximate community continue to be safeguarded in every material respect by the collective efforts of our company and all the industry professionals whose involvement Aiteo has convoked.”