Shell blames spills in Nigeria on oil thieves

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Nigeria blames the incessant oil spills in the Niger Delta region to the activities of oil thieves.

The company's spokesperson Joseph Obari told newsmen in Yenagoa in the Niger Delta state of Bayelsa on Sunday that the oil thieves were responsible for 80 percent of the spills in the state.

Obari said the Okordia-Ikarama area of the state was a hotbed of pipeline vandalism, noting that even spills caused by equipment failure were remotely linked to the activities of the thieves.

According to him, the oil firm was committed to prompt clean-up and remediation of spill impacted sites within its operational base, not minding the cause of the spill.

"A total of 21 spills have been recorded in the area between 2009 and now," he said, "Of the number, 17 were due to deliberate cutting of pipelines and manifold. The four spills caused by equipment failure occurred at previously clamped sabotage points, already weakened by repeated cuts."

"The SPDC oil spill response and remediation team is presently cleaning up the site of a spill that occurred in January 2014 and carrying out remediation at the 2013 spill sites," he said.

Obari explained that the remediation of the 2013 spill sites was delayed because of last year's flooding in the area.

The spokesperson said that another act of sabotage occurred on Jan. 27 on the Ikarama Manifold, resulting in the spilling of about 302 barrels of crude oil on the SPDC's right-of-way and beyond.

He said the spill impacted on 74 acres of land but added that almost all the spilled oil had been recovered.

He said that efforts made by the oil company to reduce the incidence of spills in the area which was its important operational base had yielded little results.

According to him, the firm engaged members of Ikarama community as surveillance contractors as well as the youths in skills acquisition and economic empowerment schemes.

Obari urged Ikarama residents to reciprocate the company's good gestures and assist it in fighting oil theft to attract more development projects to the area.