Exiting oil firms pollute Niger Delta with 36.1m litres of crude in 8yrs

• ‘IOCs, independent producers concealed quantities of spill 1,596 different times’
• Stakeholders seek environmental remediation fund, halt on divestment
• Local producers fingered in rising cases, 247,527 barrels poured into inland waters since 2016
• ‘Ororo oil well in Ondo spilling crude since 2020’

Over 36.1 million litres of crude oil, enough to fill about 1,090 oil tankers, has been spilled on water, farmland and Nigeria’s seas in the oil-rich Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The spill, which occurred between 2016 and 2023 as per data obtained from the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor domiciled with the National Oil Spill Detection and Rescue Agency showed that cases of spill and pollution of water as well as land may be going from bad to worse.

Despite the rapid push to save biodiversity, over 75 per cent of the spills went directly into the sea, swamp and land to worsen biodiversity and take away the livelihood of thousands, especially farmers and fishermen, who are already facing poverty and climate crisis as 25 per cent of the oil spill destroyed inland water that communities rely on for drinking.

This comes amidst divestment plans by oil companies and rising legal battles between communities and oil firms as the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the clean-up of Ogoniland remained elusive.

While Nigerian oil companies are moving in to acquire assets of multiple nationals, which may include their liabilities, the development has thrown up several legal battles with some stakeholders asking for a stronger policy that would address environmental concerns.

While Shell, NOAC, Chevron and other multinationals are topping the chart from NOSDRA’s data, independent oil companies like Aiteo, Seplat, Midwestern, First E&P, Eroton and others who are moving in to take over divested assets are being fingered by stakeholders for rising spills.

Some stakeholders accused the government of complicity knowing well that NNPC has shares and revenue across oil blocks.

In barrels, the spill in 2023 stood at 12,274; it was 45,836 in 2022. In 2021; the spill was 22,318; it was 21,110 in 2020 and 39,345 in 2019. It stood at 28,827 in 2018; it was 35,076 in 2017 and 42,741 in 2016.

Within this period, 247,527 barrels of oil worth $19.8 million were spilled, notwithstanding the amount of money it will cost to clean up the environment.

While about 246,927 barrels of the spill in the period went into open sea, swamp and land, over 600 barrels according to NOSDRA went into streams and Rivers, where communities source water for consumption.

Besides, over 502 of the spill sites over the eight years were not visited by any joint investigator as the oil companies, going by NOSDRA data, failed to release information, especially the number of spills in over 1,596 different cases.

In 2023, the country recorded the highest level of spill as the cases stood at 912, it was 628 in 2022, 407 in 2021, 440 in 2020, 729 in 2019, 715 in 2018, 603 in 2017 and 686 in 2016. This brought the cases to about 5,120 within eight years.

Coming at a time when stakeholders expected an improvement through the regulatory instruments in the Petroleum Industry Act and the creation of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), in litres, the oil operators in 2023 polluted land and water with 1.9 million litres, it was 7.2 million litres in 2022, 3.5 million litres in 2021, 3.3 million and 6.2 million litres in 2020 and 2019. In 2018, the volume of pollution was 4.5 million litres; it was 5.5 million litres in 2017 and 6.7 million litres of wasted crude in 2016. This brings the oil spill within the period to about 36.1 million litres.

In 2023, there are around 912 publicly available oil spill records with 36 of the oil spill sites not visited by a joint investigation team while 441 of the cases had no estimated quantity of oil spilled provided by the companies, an indication of weak regulations and attempts by the oil companies to look away from the impacts of pollution amidst existing climate change and rapid push for divestment.

The federal government-owned NOSDRA admitted that in 2023 alone, two major oil spills sent over 250 barrels of crude oil into inland waters, while over 2,500 barrels of crude oil were spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea. There were another nine medium oil spills (25-250 barrels spilled into inland waters, or 250-2,500 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea) while there were 430 minor oil spills (up to 25 barrels spilled into inland waters, or 250 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea).

NOSDRA said 351 of these were under 10 barrels in size as 465 oil spills could not be categorised.

In 2022, there are around 628 publicly available oil spill records for the period. About 25 of these oil spill sites were not visited by a Joint Investigation team and about 219 of these had no estimated quantity of oil spilled provided by the companies.

During this period, 45,836.935 barrels of oil (7,242,235.793 litres) were spilled, translating to around 229 oil tanker trucks at full capacity.
Four major oil spills sent over 250 barrels of crude into inland waters, or over 2,500 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea).

Also, about eight medium oil spills, ranging from 25-250 barrels of crude spilled into inland waters, or 250-2,500 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea).

During the year, there were 374 minor oil spills which saw up to 25 barrels spilled into inland waters, or 250 barrels spilled on land, swamp, shoreline and open sea as 279 of these were under 10 barrels in size while 232 oil spills could not be categorised.

In 2021, there were around 407 publicly available oil spills but 32 of the oil spill sites were not visited by a Joint Investigation team as 135 of these had no estimated quantity of oil spilled provided by the company.

NOSDRA showed that 22,318.108 barrels of oil (3,526,261.11 litres) were spilled in the year, translating to around 112 full oil tanker trucks.
Over 75 per cent of the spill polluted the sea, swamp, land water and farmland while 141 oil spills could not be categorised.

In 2020, the oil companies littered the earth in the Niger Delta region with 3.3 million litres of crude oil in around 440 publicly available oil spills and failed to provide an estimated quantity of oil spilled in 90 cases even as 36 of these oil spill sites were not visited by a Joint Investigation team.

While it will take over 106 oil tanker trucks to evacuate this level of the spill, over 90 per cent of the spill endangered life and biodiversity across communities and sea and about 10 went directly into the water the communities consume across the oil-rich region.

In 2019, there were 729 publicly available oil spills, 70 cases were not visited and 195 situations where the oil companies concealed information on the estimated quantity of oil spills.

In 2018, there were around 715 publicly available oil spills which resulted in the spilling of 4.5 million litres of oil even though the oil companies 159 times concealed information on the spill.

While there were around 603 publicly available oil spills in 2017, 72 of these oil spill sites were not visited by a Joint Investigation Team and at 181 of the oil companies did not release information on the spill even as 198 oil spills could not be categorised.

In 2016, there were around 686 publicly available oil spills where oil companies spilled 6.7 million litres of crude oil. About 80 per cent of the crude went into the farmland, swamp and sea and about 20 per cent flowed into land water .

Executive Director, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, worries about the under-reporting of the spill, stressing the lingering opacity of the sector and the metering challenges in the oil sector.

Insisting that if the amount of crude oil extracted is unknown, it is equally impossible to say exactly how much oil is spilled, Bassey said some oil spills go on for over 38 days without any effort to tame the spill.

According to him, the estimate by NOSDRA is at best a note indicating the never-ending alarming trend, adding that unfortunately, the PIA falls short of making suitable provisions for tackling oil spills.
“The PIA criminalizes communities by holding them liable for pipeline rupturing and vandalism. This unjust piece of legislation is blind to the fact that communities are not the policemen of the petroleum sector.

“The fact of the massive rogue behavior in the oil fields where thieves siphon and load crude in ocean plying vessels cannot be attributed to local communities. These illicit acts are prone to cause spills and leakages. But we should also remember that oil spills can happen due to many factors including equipment failure, operational failure, bombing or burning of stolen crude by security forces, third party interferences and through outright oil theft including illegal refining,” Bassey said.

Bassey said it is alarming that the Ororo 1 oil well off the coast of Awoye, Ondo, has been burning and spilling crude oil since it exploded in April 2020, almost four years ago.

He noted that divestment without accountability and responsibility is unacceptable especially with continued oil spilling and gas flaring.

Bassey noted that the Nigerian government needs a clear policy and regulatory guidelines for international oil companies seeking to divest, stating that they should first clean up, remediate and restore the environment that they have ravaged.

“They should be required to pay adequately for their environmental savagery, be required to properly decommission and close off abandoned wells, and fully compensate communities for the drastic harms they have suffered for six and a half decades,” Bassey said.

The Leader of the Alliance for the Defence of Eleme, Johnson Emere Mba-Ngei whose community is currently challenging some oil companies in court said it is alarming that oil companies have been concealing oil spills, stressing that the looming specter of divestment showed that some oil companies are neglecting spills.

“As they plan to abandon their onshore assets and sell them off, it’s clear that they must be held accountable for the irreversible damage they have inflicted on our environment and economy.

“We cannot afford to stand idly as our land is ravaged and our livelihoods destroyed. It’s time for action, and that action begins with legal recourse against these corporate giants. We must demand that they restore the environment to its original state, ensuring that future generations inherit a world free from the scars of greed and exploitation,” Emere Mba-Ngei said.

According to him, the complicity of the Federal Government and regulatory agencies was questionable, stressing that from Oloibiri to Nembe to Eleme to Bonny, the evidence of negligence is glaring.

Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Chima Williams said NOSDRA’s data is only conservative and does not show the true situation of the depth of the spill.

Williams said the Nigerian government must immediately put an environmental remediation fund in place to deal with rising spills, adding that NOSDRA is at the mercy of the oil companies due to financial constraints.

“As it is right now, while we blame NOSDRA, the government needs to provide capacity that will enable them to work independently. If we have the environmental remediation fund, NOSDRA will be able to work independently,” he said.

According to him, most of the independent oil companies in Nigeria cannot stop most of the spills, which he said are traveling faster into regions that do not even have oil fields.

Williams, a legal practitioner said the government must not allow oil companies to leave without cleaning up, adding that communities must also come together to demand environmental justice.

“Our environment must be put in order. Our people should be able to farm and fish. Cleaning up and remediation, government and communities must not allow oil operators to divest,” he said.