Fire Guts Chevron’s Rig

An oil rig belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited in Bayelsa State was on Monday morning razed by fire following a massive eruption of gas that triggered explosion on the drilling machine.

Our correspondent learnt that the fire resulted from an explosion that occurred from a new gas well head at Funawa 5 along the Koluama River in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the workers encountered technical problems when working on the new gas well head.

Their inability to contain the gas pressure led to the explosion that created panic in the communities around the area.

It was learnt that two expatriates working on the rig were missing and that about 213 workers had been evacuated.

However, a source told our correspondent that the explosion occurred at about 4.30am.

The source, who identified himself as a community leader, said there was a bang that shook the community in the early hours of Monday.

He said, “We heard a big bang that shook our community. The next thing we saw was fire coming out of the Chevron rig. The thing happened around 4:30am. When we inquired, they said they were working on a new well head. There was no sabotage. Nobody went to attack them.”

Culled from Punch Newspapers