[ 2012-05-13 ]

Total says Nigeria gas leak to stop in few days
LAGOS (AFP) - French energy firm Total said it
hoped to stop within a few days a natural gas leak
that has led to a shutdown of one of its plants in
southern Nigeria.

The company said in a statement late Saturday its
"teams have reported significant progress in the
efforts to ensure that the incident is brought
under control and to stop the subsurface gas flow
from the affected well."

"The snubbing intervention started on May 9 and if
successful could stop the gas flow in the next few
days," it said, explaining that the operation
consists of introducing small pipes into the well
to pump heavy fluid to stop the flow.

Total said the leak occurred during the drilling
of a new well in Rivers state, forcing it to shut
down the Obite gas plant on April 3.

The French company said its team had been
performing an analysis of air and water quality
several times a week.

"No hydrocarbons or toxic compounds have been
detected. As a precaution, two private water wells
near the resurgences area have been secured," it
added.

Total is among major oil operators in Nigeria,
Africa's biggest oil producer and the west African
country is estimated to have the world's
eight-largest gas reserves.

Source - AFP

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