In spite of high awareness on the effects of crude oil theft and acts of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has receorded 111 cases of sabotaage in the first half of 2019.
The company’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who revealed this, contrasted the figure with 62 incidents recorded in 2017 and 106 cases of sabotage recorded in 2018.
In its June, 2019 monthly report, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation which controls Nigeria’s 55 percent interest in the SPDC JV said there was a 77% rise in oil pipeline vandalism and that 106 pipeline breaches were recorded in June, up from 60 in May.
Weli said SPDC was concerned about the lives and safety of those involved in pipeline vandalism and crude theft just as the company was concerned about the environment.
“As a responsible organisation, we put safety first and have constantly made this appeal to those involved in crude theft in the Niger Delta to stop destroying their land and heritage from the spill and pollution arising from their activities”, he said.
He described crude oil theft and artisanal refining of stolen crude as criminal acts “that are not only against the law but are also capable of mortgaging the future of the community.”
Also speaking, SPDC’s General Manager, Safety and Environment, Chidube Nnene-Anochie, noted that illegal refining and third-party interference with pipelines were the main sources of pollution in the Niger Delta.
According to Nnene-Anochie, in 2018 alone, “third party interference caused close to 90% of the number of spills of more than 100 kilograms from SPDC JV pipelines.”
Represented by SPDC’s Compliance Monitoring Lead, Temitope Ajibade, Nnene-Anochie said no spill was acceptable to the company because it yields no benefits to host communities, government and shareholders.
“A key priority for Shell companies in Nigeria remains to achieve the goal of ‘no spills from our operations’. No spill is acceptable, and we work hard to prevent them. However, SPDC cleans and remediates areas impacted by spills from its facilities irrespective of the cause”, she added.
On the measures taken by the company to stem crude theft, she explained SPDC had enhanced its community-based pipeline surveillance while promoting alternative livelihoods through Shell’s flagship youth entrepreneurship programme, Shell LiveWIRE, which has “trained 7,072 Niger Delta youths in enterprise development and provided business start-up grants to 3,817”.
In his remarks, Engineer John Okojei of SPDC Pipeline Team described crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism as an organised crime that has continued to grow in sophistication over the last 15 years,
He regretted that the destruction the illegal enterprise has unleashed on the environment, economy, health and human lives was unquantifiable.
While thanking senior journalists for dedicating time to listen to the SPDC case against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, the Shell Deputy General Manager, External Relations, Dr Alice Ajeh, appealed to all stakeholders in the region to join the fight against the menace to guarantee sustainable environment, good health and robust economy for the people, warning that the price of complacency would be gravely severe on posterity.

Nelson Chukwudi