Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company (AEEPCO), operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML 29), says the volume of oil leakage in Friday, November 5 from its operations in Bayelsa State was yet to be determined.

The management of AEEPCO in a statement by its spokesperson, Mr Mathew Ndianabasi, confirmed that the incident occurred on Nov. 5.

Ndianabasi stated that the leak was reported from a non-producing wellhead in its Santa Barbara South field, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa, Nigeria’s South-South.

According to the company, remediation efforts to mitigate the impact of the resulting pollution on the environment was already underway as investigation by regulatory agencies was also going on.

“The magnitude of this incident is of an extremely high order. Neither the cause of the spill, nor the quantity of leaked hydrocarbon could be determined at the time of the discovery, though containment booms were deployed.

“And, recovery commenced immediately around the wellhead.  As an incident of this nature imports, the necessary Oil Spill Notification Report have been promptly communicated.

“The notification was made to National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and National Petroleum Investment Services (NAPIMS) as is required by regulation.

“A Joint Investigative Visit, (JIV) to the spill site was held by all relevant stakeholders, community inclusive. The JIV at the time, was inconclusive, owing to difficulties with access due high pressure of hydrocarbons from the well head.

The Spanish Navy has started helping farmers on the volcanic island of La Palma to reach their lava-surrounded banana plantations by sea, Spain’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

A scale 5 earthquake overnight offered a reminder that the eruption on the island of 85,000 is continuing strong despite scientists recording lower overall seismic activity levels during the past week, Spain’s National Geographic Institute said.

One of the lava flows descending from the Cumbre Vieja ridge, where the eruption began on Sept. 19, reached the sea and swallowed most of the beach amid plumes of smoke. The molten rock was slowly advancing towards a beach restaurant.

More than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of the island’s surface has been covered by lava and over 7,000 people have been evacuated, with no reported casualties.

Either lava or thick particles of ash raining down have destroyed hundreds of properties, including homes and banana plantations that are the lifeblood of the island’s economy.

Several countries and companies announced plans Wednesday to stop selling cars that run on gasoline or diesel over the next two decades, as part of efforts to clamp down on a significant source of planet-warming emissions.

But the impact of the measures will likely be limited since several major car markets — notably the United States and China — did not sign-on, and the pledges received a mixed response from environmental campaigners.

Nations and airlines also pledged to reduce emissions from air travel.

On the sidelines of the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, a group of nations said Wednesday that they would work to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2040, and no later than 2035 in leading auto markets.

While the wording of the agreement is vague, it could essentially mean switching to electric-only fleets of cars, trucks and buses — and backing off popular halfway solutions currently in use, such as hybrid vehicles.

The plan was backed by countries including Canada, Chile, Denmark, India, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Several American states and cities also signed sign-on, as did major carmakers Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Volvo.

Some companies, such as Volvo, had already pledged to even earlier targets to phase out combustion engines.

“This welcome move signals that a growing number of countries, automakers and transportation providers are joining the global push for 100% zero-emissions electric vehicles,” said Jake Schmidt of the New York-based nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council

But the Brussel-based think tank Transport and Environment said the announcement needs to be backed by legally binding targets and noted the absence of major car markets such as China, the U.S., Germany and France.

Transportation is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.

A recent report by the agency found the sale of new internal combustion engine cars — those that run on gasoline and diesel — needs to be phased out by 2035 to ensure the goals set in Paris in 2015 on capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) can be met.

German officials said the country declined to sign the agreement announced Wednesday because it contained a footnote that would prevent the use of synthetic fuels produced with renewable energy — an option that some in the current and likely future government want to keep open.

The country has backed a proposal being considered by the European Union to end sales of gasoline-powered cars and vans by 2035.

The U.S. auto industry, meanwhile, has previously pledged to dramatically increase production of electric cars, and a massive new infrastructure package provides $7.5 billion in federal grants to build a network of charging stations.