The oil giant Shell and the nation of Nigeria have a sordid past. A report earlier this year by the United Nations found fifty years of oil pollution in the Ogoniland region of Nigeria. The pollution is considered so substantial that the UN estimates that it will take approximately thirty years to clean the area up.
Oil spills continue to be a concern in the region, with an estimated 30,000 barrels of oil spilled in 2010 due to 150 separate incidents. Shell blames the majority of these leaks on sabotage and oil theft. However, an oil spill which occurred last week, said to be Nigeria’s largest since 1998, has not been found due to either of these causes.
According to officials, the spill began from an offshore oil rig which is located about seventy-five miles from the Nigerian shore. The spill, which is said to be under 40,000 barrels of oil but not further specified, occurred when oil was being transferred to an oil tanker. The spill has spread more than one hundred nautical miles and has begun covering southern Nigerian shorelines. The Bonga region from which the spill occurred is able to produce 200,000 barrels each day, although it has not been indicated that there continues to be leaking.
Shell has stated that “up to fifty percent of the leaked oil has already dissipated due to natural dispersion and evaporation.” Shell is currently working to clean up the remaining oil. It is not yet known how greatly the spill will impact the surrounding environment.
