NUPRC flags 13 wells as excessive danger in Rivers gasoline leak probe

News

By Linda Ikeji
13 November 2026, 10:28 pm

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it has categorised 13 oil and gasoline wells as excessive or very excessive danger after screening 28 wells close to reported gasoline seepage websites in Bille, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State. The remaining 15 had been rated medium to low danger.

In an announcement on Friday, NUPRC spokesperson Eniola Akinkuotu mentioned the fee was nonetheless investigating the supply of the seepage. The regulator introduced on 20 March that it had launched a coordinated technical investigation in Bille, which lies throughout the Oil Mining Lease 18 hall. The first seepage was noticed in October 2025.

Joseph Ogunsola, the fee’s director of subsurface improvement, gave an replace on the annual convention of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists. Represented by Azibamikiomun Adumo, Ogunsola mentioned the workforce assessed the wells based mostly on their proximity to the seepage websites and the reservoirs encountered throughout drilling.

Investigators bodily inspected 14 wells however couldn’t attain three others as a result of they had been submerged. The workforce heard gasoline hissing from some wells and located indicators of corrosion or vandalism at different services.

Ogunsola mentioned one effectively, about 2.5 kilometres from a seepage web site, was initially drilled to probe for oil however was shut down after gasoline was found as a substitute. Other wells are between 2.5 and three kilometres from the location. Investigators are working to find out whether or not the gasoline is coming from the shut-in effectively, different close by services or pure geological sources.

The fee expects outcomes from unbiased testing within the fourth quarter of 2026. The evaluation will evaluate the chemical and isotopic signatures of gasoline samples to assist hint the supply.

While the investigation continues, the fee and operators have mobilised meals provides, medical outreach, firefighting autos and security kits, alongside efforts to supply secure consuming water. Ogunsola mentioned residents may have to be evacuated if the seepage was discovered to have a pure geological trigger, as tracing how the gasoline strikes underground and designing a method to cease it could possibly be harder.