Chevron's Nigerian Rig Fire Finally Goes Out on its Own

The fire has finally gone out at Chevron’s Funiwa natural gas rig off the coast of Nigeria. It started back in January when equipment failure caused an explosion that is thought to have killed two contractors working on the well at the time.

The fire was proving difficult to control and a relief well drilled to try and stop the flow of gas to the Funiwa rig had been unsuccessful.

Chevron Corp released a statement declaring that the raging fire had gone out by itself. “The site of the Funiwa 1A natural gas well offshore Nigeria ceased burning on Friday, March 2. The well stopped flowing on its own,” the statement said. “CNL (Chevron Nigeria Limited) has detected no natural gas flowing from the well since the fire ceased burning and is monitoring the area continuously.”

Nigerian communities local to the area have confirmed that the fire has indeed gone out, but claim that the gas is still leaking at a steady rate, and has killed many fish and polluted the area.

Matthew Sele, from the town of Koluma just near to the offshore rig, said that, “The fire has been put off since Friday, but the gas emission is worse. Raw gas is continuing to bubble in the air and is making it hard for people to breathe.”

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Chevron to give more aid to the local communities who have been badly affected by the fire.

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com