By Eyo Nsima
As oil theft continues to hit operators in Nigeria, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) recorded six oil spill incidents in January 2023.
This indicated a drop of 11 percent when juxtaposed against 10 incidents recorded in the corresponding period of 2022, according to data obtained from the company.
The company’s Oil Spill Incidents Data attributed all the incidents which occurred on land and swamp to sabotage during the period.
According to the company, “The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), as operator of the SPDC Joint Venture (SPDC-JV), is committed to operating its facilities in a responsible manner with due regard for the environment.
“A key priority for SPDC-JV is to achieve the goal of zero spills from our operations as no operational spill is acceptable and we work hard to prevent them. When spills originate from SPDC-JV facilities, we respond quickly and in line with regulations and globally accepted good practice to clean them up.
“From observation and experience we have found that Illegal refining activities cause the most environmental damage in the Niger Delta, whilst at SPDC-JV facilities, crude oil theft and sabotage cause the majority of oil spills (see below data).
“SPDC-JV has publicly reported oil spill statistics annually since 1995 in the Shell Sustainability Report, and this website further enhances transparency on spills from SPDC-JV facilities in Nigeria. It tracks the progress of our spill management from when we detect the spill to when clean-up and remediation are completed and certified by Government Regulators.
“SPDC-JV was the first oil and gas company in Nigeria to publish data on its spills on a publicly accessible website. Our SPDC-JV oil spills website went live in 2011 and is updated regularly.
“For incidents from September 2020 the final recovered spill volumes, which may exceed spill volumes recovered at the time of the JIV, will begin to be populated on the basis of relevant approved documentation. Note: ‘n/a’ is indicated in the ‘Recovered Spill Volume’ column for incidents before this date or where data has yet to be inputted.”
