Madar (Niamey) - The blowout at the Goumeri W-8 oil well, in the Agadem block in Niger's eastern Diffa region, stopped on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at around 7am after 25 days of intense activity, the government said in a joint statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Environment, Hydraulics and Sanitation, dated Niamey Tuesday 10 November and published on Wednesday by the state daily Le Sahel.
The statement was presented at a press briefing in Niamey by the secretaries-general of the two ministries, following a 12 October statement on the well blowout. No resumption has been observed so far, which was confirmed by the permanent state mission on site and by satellite observation.
According to the two ministries, the blowout "stopped naturally, without decisive human intervention", and this "therefore does not amount to the definitive securing of the site". Securing operations are continuing, and technicians in charge of checks will rule on the matter once current operations are complete.
The statement said a review of technical documents handed over by the operator, CNPCNP, showed among other things that the well casing had not been cemented over nearly 800 metres, that abnormal pressure recorded since September 2021 in the company's own documents had gone untreated, and that the well had been drilled in only two casing phases, which "does not meet the standards of good practice for this type of field".
The cause of the blowout will be established by the expertise mobilised, supported by the commission of inquiry, and "all the consequences will be drawn from it", the government added.
On the environmental and health side, an inter-ministerial mission of 19 Nigerien experts has been deployed on site since Friday 30 October. It has finished taking samples of water, soil, vegetation and animals, and the results will be made public "as soon as possible", the statement said.
Reported cases of animal deaths in the area are being checked, and ongoing tests on animals and milk are expected to determine their causes. Nearby residents have been asked to keep their livestock away from affected areas and to report any cases to local authorities.
The government said the incident is confined to the Goumeri area and has affected neither production in the Agadem block nor the country's supply of petroleum products. It thanked Algeria for its support, according to the statement.
