A fire that killed two workers and destroyed a gas exploration rig off Nigeria’s south-east coast has gone out after 46 days, Chevron has said. It stopped burning by itself after rock fragments on the seabed sealed off the natural gas leaking from the well.
The US oil and gas firm, which owns the rig, says it will continue to install a relief well to permanently plug it.
Friends of the Earth, which said this was the world’s worst such accident in recent years, welcomed the news.
Chevron says it will monitor for any new gas flow and, once it is declared safe, abandon the problematic well in the next few months.
A major build-up of gas pressure from drilling caused the explosion that set the KS Endeavour rig on fire in the middle of January, according to the Nigeria’s state-run oil company.
At one stage, flames were as high as 5m (16ft 4in) and burned in a 40m-wide area on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, 10km (6 miles) away from the Niger Delta.
The fire had not caused any oil spillage, according to Chevron.
Scientists are conducting tests to see whether local food and water was contaminated by the gas.
