Shell says spill shuts in 46,000 bpd Nigeria crude
Date: 10-Jan-01
Country: NIGERIA
A Shell statement said the spill was reported on Sunday at Well-26 in Ughelli West, near the oil city of Warri. The trunkline was promptly closed to prevent crude oil from polluting the environment, it said.
"Production shut in is about 46,000 barrels per day," the statement said, adding that the cause of the spill had not yet been established.
Shell, denying a Nigerian newspaper report on Tuesday, said no farmlands had been affected by the spill. A joint investigation team comprising officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Shell, environmental agencies and community leaders was trying to determine the cause of the accident and the extent of damage.
Shell is Nigeria's biggest oil producer, accounting for roughly half the country's daily output of just over two million barrels.