Fresh facts into the circa August 22 oil spill at the Nembe Creek facility emerged yesterday, indicating that Nembe Exploration and Production Limited may not have been responsible for the incident.
Sources familiar with the development told THISDAY last night that the vessel involved was a contractor’s remediation barge not connected to the company’s operational activities.
This is as environmental groups and some media reports linked the incident to crude-loading activities at the facility operated by Nembe Exploration and Production Limited, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Limited, within Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29.
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), following a field visit to the affected area, had called for urgent cleanup, compensation and full accountability over the incident, saying crude oil was observed in the water and along mangrove banks around Nembe Creek.
The organisation said the spill had disrupted fishing activities and threatened the livelihoods of coastal communities, with residents reporting damage to fishing nets, declining catches and loss of access to fishing grounds.
But sources with knowledge of the incident told THISDAY that the vessel from which the spill occurred was not a Nembe Exploration-owned or operated crude-loading barge.
According to the sources, the vessel was a contractor’s remediation barge deployed for activities separate from Aiteo’s crude production and evacuation operations.
One source stated that attempts to associate the incident directly with the company’s crude-loading operations were therefore misleading, stressing that the oil firm should not be held responsible for an incident involving a third-party contractor’s vessel without establishing the contractual and operational circumstances surrounding the deployment of the barge.
“ This is just very misleading. Nembe Exploration and Production Limited has no business with whatever happened to that barge or whether oil was spilled. Whoever made that assertion needs to check again,” one source pointed out.
The sources further explained that the presence of a vessel around the Nembe Creek facility did not automatically mean that it was owned, operated or controlled by the oil producer.
They urged regulators and investigators to distinguish between the operator of the oilfield and third-party service providers engaged for specific activities before assigning liability for the spill.
The clarification comes amid reports that a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) had identified operational failure as the cause of the incident, although the precise volume of crude discharged and the full extent of the affected area had yet to be established.
Earlier reports had stated that the incident occurred when a barge loading crude from a manifold reportedly ruptured or tilted, allowing crude to escape into the surrounding waterway.
However, the sources insisted that the description of the vessel and its relationship with Aiteo’s operations required further clarification, arguing that the barge should not automatically be categorised as an Aiteo operational asset.
HOMEF had earlier urged Nembe Exploration and Production Limited, the Bayelsa State Government and relevant regulatory agencies to publish the complete findings of the JIV, including the cause of the spill, the estimated volume of crude released, the geographical extent of the pollution and the communities affected.
The foundation also called for an independent environmental assessment of affected waterways, mangroves, fishing grounds and settlements, as well as comprehensive cleanup and ecological restoration.