Nigeria seeks $3 billion from Chevron

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ABUJA, Nigeria, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A Nigerian oil response agency said it was seeking $3 billion from Chevron for a deadly rig explosion of the country's coast in January.

A fire burned for three months at the shallow-water Funiwa 1A natural gas well after the K.S. Endeavor rig off the Nigerian coast collapsed in January. Chevron in March said the fire went out when the well stopped flowing.

Peter Ibador, director general for Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, told Bloomberg News that Abuja was seeking $3 billion from Chevron.

"Having looked at the relevant literature and what happens in other countries, we recommended a fine of $3 billion for Chevron," he said.

The Nigerian subsidiary of Chevron announced in June that it sealed and abandoned the damaged well. Ibador added that the penalty assessment was "still not conclusive."

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. in July confirmed that Nigerian authorities recommended "an administrative fine" said to total $5 billion for an incident at the Bonga field.

Shell in December closed operations at the offshore Bonga production platform following a leak from an export line feeding a tanker. The company said preliminary estimates indicated 40,000 barrels of oil spilled, making it one of the worst in Nigeria in decades.