Daniel Terungwa

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has reported an explosion at a production facility in Oil Mining Lease 40 involving its partners, Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

A spokesperson for NNPC, Kennie Obateru, said on Tuesday that the explosion led to the damage of a marine storage vessel and led to a reduction in crude oil production by 10,000 barrels per day.

He stated that the explosion recorded no fatalities, adding that it occurred while the companies were carrying out production evacuation at Gbetiokun Early Production facility.

Obateru said in a statement issued in Abuja that the explosion also recorded no injuries and no significant spill in the community where it occurred.

“There was, however, significant damage to the marine storage vessel, MT Harcourt, which will impact production by about 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

“NNPC has commenced an investigation to ascertain the cause of the incident with a view to averting future occurrence, he said”