An oil vessel operating off the coast of Nigeria blew up on Wednesday, potentially spilling large quantities of crude oil into the ocean.
The Trinity Spirit, a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, exploded with 10 crew members on board, according to operator Shebah Exploration and Production.
“At this time there, are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were 10 crewmen on board the vessel prior to the incident, and we are prioritizing investigations with respect to their safety and security,” CEO Ikemefuna Okafor said.
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FPSO Trinity owned by Shebah E&P, exploded and sunk today offshore Escravos, a few hours ago#oilandgas #nigerdelta pic.twitter.com/NKnTbyapgV
— BusinessDay (@BusinessDayNg) February 3, 2022
The FPSO was set up in the Ukpokiti offshore oilfield, where it has operated since 1997, according to energy market research firm Rystad Energy.
It has the capacity to produce 22,000 barrels per day and store up to 2 million barrels of crude oil, but it’s unclear how much oil was on board during the explosion.
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Beyond environmental ramifications, the explosion could put additional strain on the OPEC member nation’s oil output, which has struggled to keep pace and carry its load in support of the cartel’s decisions over the last several months to increase production at a rate of 400,000 barrels per day.
