Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited recorded five oil spill incidents in January 2020, mainly because of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the Niger Delta.

Data obtained indicated a drop of about 66.2 per cent when compared to the 15 incidents recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.

Specifically, the incidents were recorded at Trans – Escravos Pipeline, Imo River 1-Ogale Pipeline, Imo River-Ebubu Pipeline, Imo River1 and Imo River 1 on January 2, 6, 13, 17 and 18, 2020 respectively.

According to the company, “The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) as operator of SPDC Joint Venture (SPDC-JV) facilities is committed to operating SPDC-JV facilities in a responsible manner with due regard for the environment. When spills occur from SPDC-JV facilities in the Niger Delta we respond as quickly as possible, no matter what their cause.

“Oil spills due to crude oil theft and sabotage of facilities, as well as illegal refining cause the most environmental damage from oil and gas operations in the Niger Delta. Irrespective of cause, the SPDC JV cleans up and remediates areas affected by spills originating from its facilities.

“A key priority for Shell is to achieve the goal of no spills from its operations. No spill is acceptable and we work hard to prevent them. Regrettably, in addition to spills caused by criminal activity there were nine operational spills of more than 100 kg in volume from Shell Companies in Nigeria facilities during 2017. This number is one more than the eight spills in 2016.”

It added: “SPDC has publicly reported oil spill statistics annually since 1995 in the Shell sustainability report and this website further enhances transparency on spills in Nigeria from SPDC-JV facilities. It tracks the progress of our spill response from when we learn about the leak to when clean-up is completed and certified by Regulators.”