My OperaNigerian Oil Spills
Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:03:42 PM
In oil-rich Nigeria the oil sector provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. It is a dirty business. Oil has brought incredibly huge environmental burdens and political unrest to the country. Oil keeps flowing into fields, rivers and lakes in the Niger Delta, where Western companies have been drilling for oil for half a century. A 2006 report compiled by international environmental groups and the Nigerian government estimated that on average, a spill the size of the Exxon Valdez has been occurring each year in the past fifty years. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is small beer compared to the ongoing oil spills in Nigeria. The spill in the Gulf of Mexico is hopefully as good as stopped by now and in something like ten years time most of the wounds will have healed, but in Nigeria it still goes on with no end in sight.
An increasing number of people in Nigeria suffer from the endless oil spills. Is it worth to mention that U.S.A imports roughly 10% of its oil from Nigeria (or is it in fact more?). Big Western oil companies including BP, Shell and Exxon Mobile operate in Nigeria - leading to spills at an estimated 2000 contaminated sites. Although some of the spills are no doubt caused by vandalism and terrorism (you may ask why), not only the Nigerian government, but also the oil companies ought to live better up to their responsibilities.
Forest and farmland are covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells are polluted. Fishermen have lost nets, huts and fishing pots. On 1 May 2010 a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline spilled more than a million gallons into the Niger delta over seven days before the leak was stopped. The oil companies and the government keep it a secret how much oil is spilled in the Niger delta each year. Two major independent investigations over the past four years suggest, however, that as much is spilled at sea, in the swamps and on land every year as has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico so far.
Can we trust the oil companies? Are they behaving recklessly when drilling for oil in poor countries like Nigeria? (or elsewhere for that matter!)
Big oil spills are no longer news in Nigeria. Who cares?
PS of 27 July 2010:
This CNN video tells it better than I am able to - view it
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/07/25/gps.what.world.7.25.cnn.html
An increasing number of people in Nigeria suffer from the endless oil spills. Is it worth to mention that U.S.A imports roughly 10% of its oil from Nigeria (or is it in fact more?). Big Western oil companies including BP, Shell and Exxon Mobile operate in Nigeria - leading to spills at an estimated 2000 contaminated sites. Although some of the spills are no doubt caused by vandalism and terrorism (you may ask why), not only the Nigerian government, but also the oil companies ought to live better up to their responsibilities.Forest and farmland are covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells are polluted. Fishermen have lost nets, huts and fishing pots. On 1 May 2010 a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline spilled more than a million gallons into the Niger delta over seven days before the leak was stopped. The oil companies and the government keep it a secret how much oil is spilled in the Niger delta each year. Two major independent investigations over the past four years suggest, however, that as much is spilled at sea, in the swamps and on land every year as has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico so far.
Can we trust the oil companies? Are they behaving recklessly when drilling for oil in poor countries like Nigeria? (or elsewhere for that matter!)
Big oil spills are no longer news in Nigeria. Who cares?
- http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/07/21/Nigerias-oil-spills-dwarf-gulf-disaster/UPI-99051279724729/
- http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Nigerias_oil_spills_dwarf_gulf_disaster_999.html
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html
PS of 27 July 2010:
This CNN video tells it better than I am able to - view it
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/07/25/gps.what.world.7.25.cnn.html
