The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, called on the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, to investigate the cause of the explosion on the floating production storage and offloading vessel, called ‘Trinity Spirit’, in Delta State to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
The House also urged the government to “urgently mitigate the effects of the explosion on affected communities by embarking on a clean-up of the polluted waters and the coastlands, as well as provide relief materials and pay adequate compensation to those affected by the oil spill.”
The lawmakers mandated the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the area of the incident and make recommendations towards averting a recurrence and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
The resolutions followed the unanimous adoption of a motion moved by Julius Pondi, titled ‘Explosion of a Crude Oil Vessel at the Escravos Estuary in Delta State.’
According to the lawmaker, the incident raised fears that the crew members on the vessel might have died in the fire that engulfed the ship after the explosion.
He noted that the vessel was the main production facility for the OML 108 in Nigeria’s offshore Ukpokiti Oil Field in the Niger Delta, with the capacity to process up to 22 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, with a storage capacity of 2 million barrels.
Pondi said, “The House is worried that the explosion of the vessel, which had 50,000 barrels of oil in storage when it exploded, has negatively impacted the country’s economy, and may take a long time to recover.
“The Housed is also worried about the environmental impact the explosion has had on the immediate and surrounding coastal communities such as pollution of the waters, death of aquatic animals and the dispersal of surviving fish, with its attendant economic hardship on the people who are predominantly seafood farmers.
“The House commends the assistance rendered by the Chevron team operating in the Escravos Estuary, the Clean Nigeria Associates, community stakeholders and local fishermen who responded swiftly to save the burning vessel. The House is cognisant of the need to urgently provide relief materials to the affected communities.”
Also on Wednesday, the House observed a minute silence for victims who lost their lives in fire outbreaks at tank farms across Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to establish fire stations within communities hosting tank farms across the country.
