ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit has shut an offshore pipeline due to an oil leak, Reuters has reported.
The leak occurred on Friday, November 9, off the coast of Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state. ExxonMobil’s subsidiary Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited informed the news agency that the leak source had been identified and isolated, without giving away information on how much oil was spilled.
ExxonMobil is active in both shallow water shelf and deepwater acreage offshore Nigeria. In the deepwater ExxonMobil has interests in seven blocks, operates the producing Erha and Erha North fields and also produces from the co-venturer operated Bonga field.
To remind, the Bonga field, jointly owned by ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and Eni, was last year involved in an oil spill incident. The leak was detected on December 20, 2011, during a routine operation to transfer crude oil from Bonga’s floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessel to a waiting oil tanker.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, November 12, 2012