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Global Data analyst, John Sisa has expressed fear that the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) may likely affect the oil and gas exploration and production in West African states, Nigeria in particular.
He said Nigeria is the biggest producer in the African continent and whose challenge would have significant effect on the global market.
According to him, the fear stems from the fact that West African exploration and production operations rely on expatriates who work and live in the region.
Sisa noted that oil firms might withdraw staff and stop operations until the Ebola situation is controlled in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Sisa said: “Nigeria is the only country in the region with sufficient resources to contain the outbreak, but there is still a risk of uncontrolled spread of Ebola. As the eighth-largest crude oil producer in the world, there is a substantial threat of supply disruption, should the virus spread further in the country.
“If the outbreak spreads further, it could potentially disrupt all Nigerian onshore oil production, equivalent to $40m per day.Almost 80% of Nigeria’s total oil production comes from offshore areas, while the remaining portion comes from onshore areas considered high-risk Ebola zones.If the outbreak spreads further, it could potentially, disrupt all Nigerian onshore oil production, equivalent to $40m per day.”
Sisa added that the virus has already affected the healthcare systems of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, who have partnered with private local and foreign companies to finance oil and gas exploration activities.
He observed that, “Although most of the drilling in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia occurs offshore in water depths ranging from 300m-4,500m, almost all oil workers are based in onshore stations thereby exposing them to the deadly virus.
“Oil workers who are local nationals and returning to their onshore homes in dangerous, infected zones could bring the virus to the drillships and platforms when reporting for duty.”
Sisa said the virus, which has to date delayed exploration activities, may spread to East Africa, affecting operations in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.
But, however, France oil major- Total, dismissed such fears saying that it has taken measures to protect its personnel.
Speaking on this issue in an interview with LEADERSHIP Sunday, chief executive officer of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mrs. Elisabeth Proust, who operates three clinics in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt said that in those clinics, medical personnel do temperature checks prior to this time. She said: “ We have questionnaires that check where you have been and how you feel. The questionnaire is administered to all staff in Nigeria, employees, contractors and expatriates and we also distribute this to our staff to use with their families, relatives and personal staff at home”.
Speaking further, She said that at the clinics, the company had created isolation wards for use on suspected case. “This allows the suspected case to be completely isolated while we contact the operation centre. All clinics are now equipped with the Personal Protective Equipment or PPEs and other required equipment. Sanitizer dispensers are all over the offices and the campaign on basic hygiene, washing of hands with soap and water and proper information on how to avoid contacting the virus is on our intranet and posters all over our offices”, she said.
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