The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation has confirmed the deaths of Seven persons in an explosion at an ‘Oil Mining Lease 40’ operated by its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company.
According to NNPC’s Group General Manager of the Public Affairs Division (NNPC), Kennie Obateru, the incident happened on Tuesday evening at Gbetiokun in Delta State where the facility is located.
The fatalities were recorded during the installation of a ladder on the Benin River Valve Station for access during discharging of Gbetiokun production.
The NNPC has started an investigation into the cause of the incident and the Department of Petroleum Resources has been informed about it.
The bodies of casualties have been deposited in a morgue in Sapele, while families of the personnel involved are being contacted by their employers: Weld Affairs and Flow Impact, which are consultants to NPDC.
