A new report revealed on Tuesday that Nigeria needs $12 billion to clean up decades-old oil spills in Bayelsa State over a 12-year period, blaming Shell and Eni for the majority of the damage.
Bayelsa is one of the Niger Delta’s major oil-producing states, a region plagued by pollution, war, and corruption related to the oil and gas business.
Oil companies in Nigeria have long faced legal difficulties over Niger Delta spills, which they blame on pipeline sabotage and vandalism, as well as illegal refining.
In a report, the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission stated that it began an investigation into the impact of spills in 2019 and examined evidence from forensic scientists, blood samples from persons in affected areas, and business data.
The study showed, among other things, that harmful contaminants from spills and gas flaring were many times greater than the permissible limits in soil, water, air and blood samples from surrounding populations, according to the commission.
“The report finds failures of strategy, prevention, response and remediation by oil companies,” it said.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited said it did not have access to the final report and could not comment.
According to an Eni spokesperson, the oil spills were caused by theft to fuel clandestine refineries, illegal exports, and sabotage, but the company has committed to repairing all spills.
The majority of the gas produced by Eni’s Nigerian operation was converted into LNG and supplied into local power plants, according to the spokesman, who added that “Eni conducts its activities in accordance with the sector’s international environmental best practises, without any distinction on a country basis.”
Toxins that cause burns, lung issues, and the risk of cancer were ubiquitous, according to the commission’s findings, while oil company-led clean-ups were frequently poorly conducted and might further contaminate land and groundwater.
The panel employed a United Nations methodology developed to evaluate the cost of spill clean-up in Niger Delta’s Ogoniland more than a decade ago and discovered that “the clean-up will cost US$12 billion over 12 years” in Bayelsa.
A group monitoring the project suggested last year that pollution in Ogoniland, which was part of a landmark $1 billion clean-up initiative involving a UN agency, could be worse than originally anticipated.
