The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), Mutiu Sunmonu, has described oil spills in the country’s Niger Delta region as a tragedy, which the company takes very seriously.
In an open letter on the oil spill, made available to PANA here on Thursday, Sunmonu said that was why SPDC had always accepted responsibility for paying compensation when they occur as a result of operational failure.
‘SPDC has always acknowledged that the two spills in the Bodo area in 2008, which are the focus of extensive media reports today, were caused by such operational failure. Even when, as is true in the great majority of cases, spills are caused by illegal activity such as sabotage or theft, we are also committed to cleaning up spilt oil and restoring the surrounding land,’ he noted.
Lamenting as ‘unfortunate that inaccurate reporting has created the impression that SPDC in particular and oil companies in general are responsible for all oil spills in Nigeria,’ the SPDC MD disclosed that the two spills at issue here resulted in around 4,000 barrels of oil being spilt.
‘Equally, speculation by the plaintiffs’ lawyers as to the level of compensation which may be payable is misguided and massively in excess of the true position,’ he said.
According to him, concerted effort is needed on the part of the Nigerian government (which itself owns a majority interest in the assets operated by SPDC under a joint operating agreement with the NNPC), working with oil companies and others, to end the blight of illegal refining and oil theft in the Niger Delta, both of which perpetuate poverty.
He described this as the major cause of the environmental damage which media reports have so graphically illustrated.