Shell Spills 40,000 Barrels of Crude at Nigerian Field

Royal Dutch Shell announced Thursday that a giant 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) Nigerian deepwater facility, Bonga, was shut down indefinitely after on oil leak occurred earlier this week during a tanker loading.

Shell disclosed that the leak spilled “less than 40,000 barrels” at the site in the Gulf of Guinea, about 120-km off the coast of Nigeria.  In the statement released Thursday, the company claimed that approximately half of the spilled oil dissipated due to natural dispersion and evaporation, still leaving 20,000 barrels in the Gulf.

PHOTO: Oil sheen at the Bonga facility. 

Shell’s Nigerian country chair, Mutiu Sunmonu, said that they deploying vessels with dispersants to break up the oil sheen and accelerate the cleanup process at sea.  The company is also mobilizing aircraft that will support the marine vessels in the operation.  Sunmonu added how sorry he is about the incident, and that Shell is currently working with the Nigerian government to inform local communities and fishermen about the spill.

A Shell spokesman said that it’s too early to know when operations will resume at the Bonga facility, and that their main focus now is dispersing the spilled oil.