Spill prevention and response
In 2015, the new Nigerian president stated that he would prioritise the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland. The report called on the Nigerian government, oil and gas companies and communities to put an end to all forms of oil contamination and to begin a comprehensive clean-up of the region.
The government brought together a number of parties including representatives of the Ogoni Community who will work to move forward with implementing the report’s recommendations. An 18-month roadmap has been agreed by the government, UNEP and SPDC which includes a governance framework. SPDC fully supports the UNEP report and remains committed to playing its part in implementing the UNEP recommendations. SPDC also announced a £55 million settlement in 2015 with members of the Bodo community in Nigeria regarding two operational spills in 2008. Ongoing discussions are taking place with the Bodo community to allow international contractors to proceed with oil removal and clean-up. This is in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the SPDC JV and the Bodo community.
SPDC is working on a number of initiatives to prevent and minimise the impact of theft and sabotage in Ogoniland, including community-based pipeline surveillance, education and alternative livelihood programmes. In 2015, SPDC introduced new ways for the community to directly log complaints or issues. This is intended to improve the company’s communication with host communities.
Spills and response data
SPDC continues work to clean up areas near our facilities affected by spills irrespective of the cause of the spills. The number of operational spills fell from 37 in 2014 to 15 in 2015. The volume of oil spilled in operational incidents also fell, from 0.3 thousand tonnes of spills volume to 0.2 thousand tonnes.
Theft of SPDC JV crude oil on the pipeline network amounted to around 25 thousand barrels of oil a day in 2015. This reduction from around 37 thousand barrels of oil a day in the previous year is partly due to continued surveillance efforts and implementing antitheft protection mechanisms on key equipment. Since 2012, SPDC has removed more than 850 illegal theft points.
The number of sabotage-related spills in 2015 declined to 93 compared with 139 in 2014. This decrease was due to divestments in the Niger Delta and increased surveillance and security by the Government of Nigeria. However, theft and sabotage are still the cause of around 85% of spills from SPDC JV operations.
In total, 133 new sites requiring remediation were identified in 2015, of which 23 were in Ogoniland. Of the total of 305 sites identified for remediation and certification at the start of 2015, 184 have been remediated and certified. 55 of these sites were in Ogoniland (representing a net reduction of 29% in remediation sites in that area during 2015).
