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Shell, Community’s Rift Delays Work At Adibawa Fields

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11 years ago

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A lingering face- off be
tween Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its host communities at Adibawa oil fields has hampered oil spill response for a leak that occurred  on July 12, further endangering the environment.
Shell said that the oil leakage from its oil fields located in Edagberi community in Rivers was caused by thieves who targeted the Well Head.
According to a statement from Mr Joseph Obari, an SPDC Spokesperson, members of the host community were frustrating the efforts of the oil firm to recover spilled crude and remediate the polluted environment.
“Following a reported spill at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta reported July 12, the statutory Joint Investigation Visit remains delayed.
“The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ahoada West Local Government, Ikechukwu Obuzor is leading mediation after the leadership of the Edagberi Betterland community prevented the representatives of industry regulatory agencies, the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and SPDC from accessing the spill site at Adibawa well-8 for crude oil recovery and remediation operations.
“After a seeming agreement last week by the leadership of Edagberi Betterland community for oil recovery to commence, a group of youths demanding payment of money and employment refused SPDC Oil Spill Response team access to the site.
“SPDC regrets the continued delay to recovery of the spilled oil.
“On July 12, SPDC received reports of a spill at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta. The spill appeared to have been caused by an attempted theft of the wellhead.
“Upon receiving reports of the incident SPDC took containment measures including the construction of dykes, pits and the deployment of booms to prevent further impact on the environment.
“The leak was stopped on July 15, but attempts to conduct the statutory Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) on July 16 and 17 to determine the cause and extent of the leak were unsuccessful.
“Without the JIV, SPDC cannot carry out badly-needed clean up and remediation of the site.” Obari said.
However, Chief Sunny Jacob Ubele, paramount ruler of Edagberi community said on Friday that the allegations that the community denied SPDC access were false and baseless.
He said that the community cooperated with officials of the oil firm but expressed reservations when Shell officials attempted to manipulate the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) procedure.
“It is very untrue that we denied them access, if we did how did they manage to stop the spill?, they had fixed a JIV on our meeting day and we told them to fix it for the next day.
“When we got there with them we found out they went to the site unilaterally and tampered with the evidences that would assist in arriving at conclusions, so we told them that we were excluded from that exercise.
“We pointed out to them that what they did constituted a JIV without community and we declined to sign the JIV reports because we were not part of it and the JIV was inconclusive.
“There is not truth in the allegations, today the council of chief met and restated that they should commence recovery of crude from the site, Ubele said.
The paramount ruler explained that the youths had merely insisted that the 10 persons from the community hired to provide labour were grossly inadequate.
“As we speak, all contentions have been resolved as the oil firm had increased the labour slots for the oil recovery efforts from 10 to 25 slots.
“They commenced recovery of spilled crude from the impacted areas on Thursday, “ The Monarch said.
John David, an Oil industry observer, condemned the neglect of the environment by the two contending parties for material gains.
“What we saw in the Adibawa site is condemnable and I do not spare any party of blames, How come Shell has lost goodwill with its communities that they will need a Council Chairman to broker peace? And Shell has a Community Relations Department under a manager.
“On the side of the community they thought they were holding the oil firm to ransom, but it is their own environment that suffered while they were agitating for labour jobs which is temporary and transient,” David submitted.
A  visit to Adibawa Oil Well 8 location showed that members of the community were  fetching the spilled crude from the well head.

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Oil & Energy

REA, Mente Energy Sign MoU On Renewable Energy Localisation

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6 days ago

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April 20, 2026

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The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and Mente Energy Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), formally launching the Renewable Energy Localisation and Industrialisation Programme (RELIP).
The programme is designed to structure renewable energy market to catalyse investment, generate skilled industrial employment and build a domestic clean-energy manufacturing base in partnership with global capital.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, REA, Abba Aliyu, said Nigeria built significant momentum in decentralised renewable energy but until now, the economic value of that deployment has largely flowed offshore.
“By organising our national demand and building the institutional architecture to support domestic manufacturing, we are creating the conditions for investment, jobs and industrial growth to take root on Nigerian soil.
“The REA is proud to lead this programme and we welcome partners – Nigerian and international – who share our commitment to building a clean-energy industrial base that serves Nigeria first,” he said.
The founder and managing partner of Mente Energy, Tolu Osekita, said Nigeria’s renewable-energy market is one of the most significant industrial opportunities of this decade.
Osekita said “What RELIP does is to put structure around that opportunity so that capital of every origin can invest here with greater confidence and at greater scale.
“Grounded in Nigeria-first principles, this is about catalysing the maximum economic opportunity for our country – factories, jobs, investment and industrial growth built on Nigerian soil, in partnership with the world.
We are proud to stand alongside the REA in leading this work”.
The MoU establishes a five-year framework for strategic collaboration – with RELIP identified as the first priority workstream am phase 1 will be delivered over approximately six months, establishing the commercial, analytical and institutional foundations required for NREIF launch and subsequent capital mobilisation.
The programme is designed to structure renewable energy market to catalyse investment, generate skilled industrial employment and build a domestic clean-energy manufacturing base in partnership with global capital.
It would be noted that Nigeria is one of Africa’s most dynamic renewable-energy markets as both the public and private sectors adoption is accelerating with millions of solar home systems, hundreds of mini-grids and growing commercial and industrial uptake.
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Stakeholders Seek Unified Action To Accelerate Methane Abatement In Oil, Gas Sector

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6 days ago

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April 20, 2026

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Stakeholders across the government, civil society and industries have called for stronger regulatory coordination and accelerated action on methane abatement in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
They made the call at the Methane Emission Abatement in the Oil and Gas Industry Regulatory Dialogue organised by the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) alongside other partners, in Abuja, at the weekend
The Country Director, SDN, Mrs Florence Ibok-Abasi, insisted that fragmented regulatory approaches have slowed progress in the past, noting that the current engagement aimed to align priorities, strengthen enforcement, and build lasting institutional coordination.
“We are here to align priorities, learn from our challenges, break down silos, and build genuine coordination among all stakeholders.
“Each of you brings critical knowledge; upstream expertise, midstream insights, climate policy perspective, civil society accountability, and legislative oversight. Our strength lies in bringing these together.
“Improved inter-agency cooperation is not optional; it is the foundation for better data, stronger enforcement, and credible progress toward Nigeria’s global methane pledge. We have the talent to make this work”, she said.
Ibok-Abasi said the gathering marked a turning point in efforts to harmonise regulatory approaches, describing collaboration as critical to achieving meaningful climate outcomes.
While noting that the dialogue was the first of two, the SDN boss stated that a second dialogue would be reconvene to advance initiatives and collaboration that would ensure improvement of methane abatement in the oil and gas sector.
Also speaking, the Head, Environment and Climate Change, SDN, Dr Jude Samuelson, highlighted methane reduction as one of the fastest and most effective strategies for tackling climate change globally.
Samuelson noted that the initiative was, therefore, designed to ensure regulators and operators work hand in hand to deliver measurable results.
He, however, identified the high cost of methane abatement technologies as a major constraint, calling for stronger government-industry partnerships to make such solutions more accessible and scalable in Nigeria.
“One of the recommendations that SDN has is to see how the government can work with the operators to ensure that the operators afford these technologies.
“We are also interested in bringing some of the new technologies from methane emission abatement down to the country to see how the technologies could be deployed in the oil and gas sector to ensure that emissions reduce drastically”, he said.
Speaking from the climate policy perspective, the representative of the National Council on climate Change (NCCC), Chukwuemeka Okebugwu, said methane remained a significant contributor to global warming, particularly in oil-producing countries like Nigeria.
“The oil and gas sector is a major source of methane emissions.
“So regular dialogue helps us develop practical solutions and also identify opportunities, including converting methane into useful energy instead of wasting it,” he said.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Saudi Mohammed, highlighted the need for methane abatement.
Represented by the Technical Adviser on  Health, Safety Environment and Community, Odafe Atebe, Mohammed,
described methane abatement as a cost-effective pathway for Nigeria to achieve climate goals without compromising energy security.
In his words, “Fragmented approaches will not deliver the scale of impact required. We must move beyond discussions to coordinated action across the entire oil and gas value chain”.
On his part, Senior Manager, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Ibrahim Jilo, noted that while progress has been made, challenges remain in ensuring compliance across a diverse and evolving industry landscapNRGIe.
Jilo emphasised the importance of tailored approaches, capacity building, and sustained engagement with operators.
Representative of the Civil Society Group, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Tengi George- Kalu, who spoke from the civil society standpoint, urged stakeholders to ensure that methane reduction efforts translate into tangible benefits for communities affected by oil and gas operations.
“Collaboration is key to moving from policy ambition to real implementation and enforcement,” she stated.
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NITDA, NNPC Partner To Drive Digital Transformation In Energy Sector

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6 days ago

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April 20, 2026

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are deepening collaboration to accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The collaboration is being championed through the Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) Unit of the NNPC.
In a courtesy visit by the Director, RTI Unit of the NNPC, Olatomiwa Olaniyi, to the Director-General, NITDA, Malam Kashifu Inuwa, the duo explored strategies to leverage emerging technologies to reposition the nation’s energy industry.
Speaking, NITDA boss, Inuwa, stressed the need for the NNPC to shift from traditional dependence on the exploitation of oil and gas resources to a more innovative model.
According to him, the innovative model would be anchored on the exploration of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics, among other emerging technologies.
Inuwa said information technology had become a critical enabler across sectors, adding that innovation would play a key role in shaping the future of energy production, efficiency and sustainability in Nigeria.
He outlined NITDA’s strategic priorities to include promoting digital literacy, nurturing local talent, strengthening research ecosystems and advancing indigenous technology solutions.
According to him, reducing reliance on foreign technologies while encouraging home grown innovation is vital to achieving digital sovereignty and sustainable economic growth.
The NITDA boss also said the agency would support NNPC in developing a robust innovation pipeline to connect the company with Nigeria’s growing startup ecosystem.
He said startups would be engaged through incubation programmes and innovation challenges to develop practical solutions tailored to the oil and gas industry.
Inuwa further scored that NITDA’s initiatives aimed at fostering innovation among young Nigerians, including members of the National Youth Service Corps.
“Many of our corps members are already creating solutions to real-world challenges through the agency’s programmes,” he said.
Inuwa also said that effective implementation of the Nigerian Startup Act would be crucial in supporting emerging technology ventures and scaling ideas into commercially viable solutions.
Earlier, Olaniyi said the engagement was aimed at co-creating solutions and building a strong partnership framework to accelerate innovation across the energy value chain.
He emphasised that collaboration among government agencies, industry players and the technology ecosystem remained critical to achieving sustainable innovation.
Presenting the mandate of the RTI Unit, he said its focus was on driving excellence through innovation.
According to him, this would lead to improved operational efficiency, enhanced revenue generation and support sustainable growth across NNPC’s businesses, including upstream, gas, power and new energy.
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