Renaissance Africa Energy Co. Ltd on Monday reported an oil spill at its facilities in Rivers State.
A statement by its spokesperson said the spill was caused by an illegal connection on its Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline at the Oshika community.
The statement said the company was immediately isolating the pipeline and stopping production to minimise potential environmental impact.
In a note to Channels Television over the weekend, the independent oil producer’s spokesperson, Michael Adande, had initially denied the report of a fresh oil spill at the Trans Niger oil pipeline.
“The TNP is operational,” Adande initially said.
The company now says it has informed government regulators of the fresh incident and is coordinating a mandatory joint investigation. The probe, involving government and local community representatives, will determine the cause and impact of the incident.
Monday’s oil spill marks the second incident this month on the Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline and the third across Renaissance’s operations.
Last Friday, the company, which now owns former Shell Nigeria onshore assets, halted production on a line feeding the Trans Niger oil pipeline, a crucial artery transporting crude from onshore fields to the Bonny export terminal, following an operational incident.
