A Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel with a capacity to process up to 22,000 barrels of oil per day, inject up to 40,000 barrels of water per day and store 2 million barrels of oil, has exploded and sunk at the Ukpokiti Terminal, around Excravos, Warri South-west, Delta State.
In a press release issued yesterday, Ikemefuna Okafor, Chief Executive Officer, Shebah Exploration and Production Company Ltd (in receivership) said:
“The Management of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) in RECEIVERSHIP hereby announce the unfortunate incident of a fire that engulfed our offshore facility, the FPSO Trinity Spirit located at the Ukpokiti Teminal, following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday, 2nd of February 2022.
The cause of the explosion is currently being investigated and we are working with necessary parties to contain the situation.
At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were ten crew men on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security.
We appreciate the assistance provided us by the Clean Nigeria Associates, the Chevron team operating in the nearby Escravos facility and our community stakeholders as well as fishermen, who have been of tremendous assistance since the incident happened.
We have duly notified all relevant authorities and we appeal to the members of the public to stay away from the area while our Crisis Management Team continue to monitor the situation and update all stakeholders with new information as the investigation evolves.”
Emmanuel Addeh, of Thisday, giving a background on the significance of the asset, indicated that the FPSO is owned by Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL) which in 2004 acquired all of 40 per cent of ConocoPhillips equity interest in OML 108.
Further, SEPCOL (now in receivership) is owned by a combination of Nigerian and overseas corporate entities, which include: Abbeycourt Trading Company Limited (ATCO), Abbeycourt Petroleum Company Limited and Allenne Limited.
The FPSO served as the primary production facility of for OML 108 and is also a government approved terminal for lifting operations for all OML 108 production.
