FPSO explodes offshore Nigeria

Feb. 3, 2022
SEPCOL has confirmed that the FPSO Trinity Spirit exploded with 10 crew members onboard offshore Nigeria.

Offshore staff

WARRI, Nigeria – Shebah Exploration & Production Co. Ltd (SEPCOL) has confirmed that the FPSO Trinity Spirit exploded with 10 crew members onboard offshore Nigeria, according to a Reuters report.

SEPCOL’s CEO Ikemefuna Okafor said investigations were under way to establish the cause of the explosion in the early hours of Wednesday. He said attempts to contain the situation were being made with help from local communities and Chevron, which has a facility nearby.

“At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were 10 crew men on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritizing investigations with respect to their safety and security,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

The FPSO Trinity Spirit was positioned in the Ukpokiti field off the coast of Nigeria, where it has operated since 1997.

The FPSO has a processing capacity of 22,000 b/d and a storage capacity of 2 MMbbl.

Zhenying Wu, senior analyst at Rystad Energy, said: “It is likely that the unit has not been producing oil since 2019, and has been used solely for storage purposes.”

According to Wu, the hull of the FPSO was originally built in 1976 and the latest upgrade took place in 1997.

02/03/2022