Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:55am EST
* “Less than 40,000 barrels of oil” leaked – Shell
* Field produces 10 pct of Nigerian oil exports
* Shell says oil flow now halted
By Emma Farge
LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is shutting down its huge 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bonga oilfield off the Nigerian coast after a leak occurred while loading a tanker on Tuesday, the firm said in a statement.
The Anglo-Dutch oil major said “less than 40,000 barrels of oil” had leaked into the ocean. The flow of oil had now halted, a spokesman said.
The leak occurred while a tanker was loading oil from Shell’s Bonga facility, about 120 kilometres off the coast of the West African nation, according to the statement.