A huge blowout of oil and gas in Niger’s remote eastern desert has caused an environmental incident of “exceptional severity”, the petroleum ministry announced on Monday.
The landlocked west African nation has been producing oil since 2011, and extracts and refines tens of thousands of barrels per day, particularly in the Agadem region.
In petroleum terminology, “a huge blowout of oil and gas” refers to an uncontrolled release of oil and natural gas from a well. It can cause a major environmental disaster, but it does not necessarily mean an explosion has occurred.
The blowout at the Goumeri W8 oil well, around 1,700 kilometres (1,000 miles) from the capital Niamey, occurred on September 25, according to a ministry statement read out on national TV.
Environmental impact
It has produced an “environmental incident of exceptional severity… characterised by the spewing of large quantities of crude oil and gas to a height of over 10 metres (33 feet)”, the statement said.
Footage broadcast on the evening news showed crude oil gushing several metres into the air, while a slick flowed for hundreds of metres across the ground.
As of Monday, “the situation is partially contained but not yet fully under control”, the ministry said.
The causes of the blowout “have not been fully established” but “criminal or terrorist” involvement have been ruled out.
An investigation was underway with the help of “Algerian expertise”, it added.
The site is operated by CNPC Niger Petroleum, a local subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation.
A junta has ruled Niger since a 2023 coup. An armed group opposed to the military government has been carrying out sporadic attacks on the 2,000-kilometre pipeline transporting Nigerien crude to its coastal neighbour Benin.
