Shell, a global leading energy firm, has reported a sharp decline in oil spills associated with the Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in Nigeria in 2022 to 600 tonnes from 3,300 tonnes recorded in 2021, representing about 500% decline.
Reuters reported the oil giant as saying that the sharp decline in oil tonnage spills in Nigeria was primarily as a result of prolonged shut down of its operations spanning about six months as well as attacks on its facilities.
In the year under review, Shell disclosed that the number of oil spills associated with its operations in the Niger Delta region totalled 75 as against 106 incidents recorded in 2021.
The report also showed that there was also a sharp reduction in the company’s carbon emissions (CO2) during the year in review, dipping by about 10% to 1.232 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
For instance, the Trans-Niger Pipeline which is one of the major pipelines with capacity to transport about 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, about 15% of Nigeria’s daily crude production, to Bonny Export Terminal stopped crude oil transportation in June 2022 as a result of oil theft associated with militants’ attacks on oil facilities in the region. The pipeline was not opened until October last year.
For the past years, international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta region of the country have been contending with the challenge of oil spillages with the attendant devastating impact on the environment due to militants’ attacks on the pipelines and other facilities.
The environmental damages have led to many oil producing communities instituting law suits against the IOCs locally and internationally for financial and other compensations.
