Niger’s petroleum ministry has declared an environmental incident of “exceptional severity” following a massive oil and gas blowout at a remote oil well in the country’s eastern desert.
The incident occurred on September 25 at the Goumeri W8 oil well, approximately 1,700 kilometres from the capital, Niamey, according to a ministry statement broadcast on national television on Monday.
The ministry said the blowout released large quantities of crude oil and gas, with the discharge reaching heights of more than 10 metres.
Footage aired on the evening news showed crude oil shooting several metres into the air, while an oil slick spread across the surrounding ground for hundreds of metres.
As of Monday, authorities said the situation had been partially contained but remained outside their full control.
“The situation is partially contained but not yet fully under control,” the ministry said.
The cause of the blowout has not been fully established, although the ministry ruled out criminal or terrorist involvement.
An investigation is ongoing, with assistance from Algerian experts, to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The affected facility is operated by CNPC Niger Petroleum, the local subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, a Chinese state-owned energy company.
Niger, a landlocked West African country, began producing oil in 2011 and now extracts and refines tens of thousands of barrels daily, with much of its petroleum activity concentrated in the Agadem region.
The incident comes amid security challenges facing the country’s oil industry. Niger has been under military rule since a coup in 2023, while an armed group opposed to the government has carried out sporadic attacks on the approximately 2,000-kilometre pipeline used to transport Nigerien crude oil to neighbouring Benin for export.
Authorities have yet to establish the full environmental impact of the blowout as efforts to contain the incident and investigate its causes continue.
