By John Ugo
There was a sudden fire explosion on Thursday at gloating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel on wednesday.
The vessel named ‘Trinity Spirit’ caught fire in the early hours of the day at the Ukpokiti terminal, around Excravos, Warri South- West Local government area of Delta state.
Findings showed that the vessel was operated by Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL).
Mr. Ikemefuna Okafor, Chief Executive Officer, Shebah Exploration and Production Company Ltd in a statement confirmed the incident saying that the fire was caused by an explosion.
Okafor said 10 crew members were onboard the facility when the incident occurred but had yet to be accounted for.
“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 Terminal, following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday, 2nd of February 2022,” the statement reads.
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 crewmen 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.”
In 2004, SEPCOL acquired all of 40% of ConocoPhillips equity interest in OML 108 and by virtue of that acquisition became the technical operator of the block. Express Petroleum and Camac Limited own the remaining 60% equity interest on OML 108.
The FPSO Trinity Spirit serves as the primary production facility for the block. The Ukpokiti field was discovered in 1993, and the licence was converted into oil mining lease (OML) 108 in 1996.
SEPCOL (now in receivership), is owned by a combination of Nigerian and overseas corporate entities including Abbeycourt Trading Company Limited (ATCO), Abbeycourt Petroleum Company Limited and Allenne Limited.