...1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Oil spill is the leakage or discharge of petroleum onto the surface of inland or coastal water. It assumes disastrous dimension when an uncontrollable well blows out or pipeline ruptures. On water surface, spreading takes place immediately, which is very harmful to various types of aquatic lives as it prevents sufficient amount of sunlight from penetrating and also reduces the land-dissolving capacity in the water. The magnitude of crude oil pollution and damage occasioned by multi-national oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is incredible (Urhobo Historical Society, 2003). It is noteworthy that the devastating consequences of the crude oil spill in the region with its eventual hazards on both aerial and terrestrial environments is tantamount to an irreversible chain effect on both the biodiversity and human safety. Abbot (2007) in her article entitled “Think Jamaica is Bad? Try Nigeria” notes that the discovery of oil has been an ecological disaster for the Niger Delta where the oil is extracted. Oil and natural resources of a country are often considered to be national assets. Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Animals that rely on scent to find their babies or mothers fade away due to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected...
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...Abstract:Oil pollution has been the major environmental effect in oil producing countries particularly where crude oil exploration tales place. In Nigeria, the problem is more pronounced in the Niger-Delta region. Poultry farming is a very lucrative business in Nigeria where both chickens (layers and broilers) are found particularly in the northern part of the country. The eggshells are usually thrown and allowed to liter the environment. A column study was used to test the ability of the eggshell granules in the removal of crude oil from oil polluted water from as high as 187 ppm to 1.5 ppm. Effects on water flow rate, and bed height were investigated. The result showed that as the bed height increased from 5 cm to 30 cm, the oil removal varies from 88 to 99% and the service time varies from 876 to 3702 s. The effect of flow rate on oil removal showed that the higher the flow rate, the lower the amount of oil removed.The pattern by which oil was removed from polluted water was based on an equation of a polynomial order of 5 degree.Bed depth service time was used to evaluate the values of the sorption capacity of the bed No and the bed depth service constant Ka. The values of No and Ka are 36.88mg/L and 0.000068 L/mg/sec respectively. The critical bed...
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...global oil producing companies for year 2012 by Forbes (Christopher Helman 2012). Despite its prominent reputation and its claimed aim of achieving the worldwide energy demand in a responsible manner, it does negate the fact their business operations have impacted the environment of Nigeria. The pressing argument that will be discussed in this paper would be the interminable oil spills due to the defective facilities and insufficient checks of equipments which are identified as the one of the main sources of the environmental contamination by Shell in the Niger Delta, how these irresponsible activities have implicated the environment which leads to unfavourable circumstances for society and stakeholders such as institutional investors, and the efforts made by Shell to counteract the situation. Background of Oil Spills in Niger Delta Before Shell tapped on the Delta, the eastern area of Nigeria was resource wealthy. However what thought to be a profitable activity for the corporations as well as Nigerian people too turned out to be a severe environmental threat and has been evolving for a few decades since 1956. Shell did acknowledge that their operations have caused oil spills, but did not agree on the extent of it. Analysts have recorded that in the year 1995 to 2006, Shell has committed an average three hundred spills annually which results to more than four hundred fifty thousand barrels of oil ( Tuodolo 2009 , 537 ). Bodo Oil Spills in 2008 The oil spill...
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...in the Niger Delta Shell in the Niger Delta There is a long and terrible record of environmental destruction and human rights violations in the oil-producing regions of Nigeria. The gross level of environmental degradation caused by oil exploration and extraction in the Niger Delta has gone unchecked for the past 30 years. Evidence shows that the oil companies operating in Nigeria have not only disregarded their responsibility towards the environment but have acted together with the military’s repression of Nigerian citizens. The profit-driven collusion between multinational oil companies and the past and present Nigerian governments has cost many lives and continues to threaten the stability of the region. In the course of writing this paper, based on all the accounts of reports read, interviews conducted, news and report findings, I came to the realization that oil extraction and the related operations of multinational oil corporations pose a serious threat to the livelihood of the people of the Niger Delta. Tensions in the Niger Delta continue to erupt into violence as natural resources vital to local communities’ survival are destroyed by oil operations. Environmental and social justice for the people of the Niger Delta remain central issues for achieving peace in the region. As long as people’s calls for justice continue to be ignored and resisted by both multinational oil corporations and the Nigerian government, the situation in the Delta can only...
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...Oil spills: The Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989 was one of the worst oil spills in history. In the Niger Delta, there has been an Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years. This gives the Niger Delta the unpleasant honor of being one of the most polluted places on earth. More than 70 percent of the people of the Niger Delta rely on natural resources. They are fishermen and farmers. In 2011 the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) documented the consequences of oil pollution in Ogoniland, one part of the delta severely damaged by spills. UNEP found that people in Ogoniland have lived with chronic pollution all their lives. They found benzene levels 900 times higher than the World Health Organization recommendations. And they found oil in...
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...complicit in widespread corruption and as a large contributor to the self-enrichment of government officials and powerful, local interests. They’ve also been viewed as a principal agent of widespread environmental degradation in what’s recognized as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Urbanization, industrialization and deforestation are taking a heavy toll on the Delta region’s soil, land, water and air. The country’s forest area has been reduced by around half between 1990 and 2008, which is degrading the region’s agricultural productivity and water resources. Local activists and residents, as well as local and foreign scientists and researchers, have decried the fouling of the Delta region’s air, land and water, much of it attributed to pollution associated with oil and gas exploration and production. Shell has been harshly criticized for the effects its exploration and production in Nigeria. Seventy-five percent of oil spill incidents have been caused by third-party interference: sabotage and oil theft, however; a large majority are the result of oil theft and piracy, according to Shell ("Shell in Nigeria: Oil, Gas, Development & Corporate Social Responsibility."). Ken Saro-Wiwa Case The harshest international criticism of Shell in Nigeria has been related to human rights. In 2009, Shell settled a decades-long...
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...Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for Change Five case studies from civil society sponsored by February 2010 About ECCR The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) is a church-based investor coalition and membership organisation working for economic justice, environmental stewardship, and corporate and investor responsibility. ECCR undertakes research, advocacy and dialogue with companies and investors. It seeks to influence company policy and practice and to raise awareness among the British and Irish churches, the investor community and the general public. For more information, please visit www.eccr.org.uk. Acknowledgements ECCR would like to thank the five civil society organisations that contributed case studies based on their work in the Niger Delta; Cordaid for generously sponsoring the report; members, partners and independent experts who advised, read and commented on the text before publication; Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria for providing company information and commenting on the text. Cover photo credits: Friends of the Earth International; IRIN/UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands; Stakeholder Democracy Network. Disclaimers ECCR has commissioned and published these case studies as a contribution to public understanding. The text has undergone a careful process of fact-checking and review to achieve accuracy and balance. Nevertheless...
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...ENVIRONMENT KHABAROVSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION AUGUST 27.-29, 2007 The Adverse Impacts of Oil Pollution on the Environment and Wellbeing of a Local Indigenous Community: The Experience of the Ogoni People of Nigeria Paper by LEGBORSI SARO PYAGBARA MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE OGONI PEOPLE (MOSOP) OF NIGERIA Introduction Crude oil has had profound impact on the world civilization than any single natural resource in recorded history. Oil has become a very decisive element in defining the politics, rhetoric and diplomacy of states. This fact is adumbrated in a public lecture entitled “Oil in World Politics” delivered by a former secretary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the late Chief M.O.Feyide, when he asserted that “All over the world, the lives of people are affected and the destiny of nations are determined by the result of oil explorations. Oil keeps the factors of the industrialized countries working and provides the revenues, which enable oil exporters to execute ambitious national and economic development plans. The march of progress would be retarded and life itself would be unbearable if the world is deprived of oil. That is why oil has become the concern of governments, a vital ingredient of their politics and a crucial factor in the political and diplomatic strategies”[i] Yet behind this deification of oil,...
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...A Study of Shell Oil and its Stakeholders in Nigeria Part 1 (Week Six) A Review of Basic Issues Regarding the Background and Interests of Stakeholders of Shell Oil Company in Nigeria Chapter 1 Introduction The complexity of understanding the Shell Nigeria oil spill and applying critical analysis and leadership theories to the problem is a challenging debate. A reader would tend to assume that Shell is at fault and should take all the blame for this corporate and ecological mess. Therefore, the introduction needs to provide the reader with sufficient historical information and background of stakeholders such as Royal Dutch Shell Company, Nigeria (country), Niger Delta (province of Nigeria) and its directly affected tribal communities of the oil spill. The introduction is thorough as to avoid explaining in other key elements of this research paper. The Royal Dutch Shell was ranked No1 as the largest organisation in the world in 2012 by Global 500. Shell has boosted its first quarter earnings of 2012 by 11% compared to that of 2011. Shells long term projects that have just commenced creating; a gas to liquids plant in Qatar and further projects in Canadian oil sands, have in part contributed to these revenues. Royal Dutch Shell has 87000 employees globally (Global 500, 2012) The first Shell Company in Nigeria was started in 1936 by The Royal Dutch/Shell Group. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group then founded Shell D’Arcy. Two years later in November 1928...
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...Nigeria’s historical background in regard to both national politics and the oil industry help put Shell Oil Company’s operations in Nigeria into context. Nigeria, an English speaking country in West Africa, is the most populated country in Africa with 180 million people; and has one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world with five percent growth in GDP every year. Further, Nigeria is one of the world’s largest producers of oil in the world and is part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (hereafter “OPEC”). RDS, a British and Dutch multinational gas and petroleum company headquartered in Holland, has many subsidiaries such as the Shell Oil Company (American Subsidiary) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigerian Subsidiary hereafter referred to as “SPDC”). SPDC has been the biggest fossil fuel company in the Nigeria and it accounts for over twenty percent of Nigeria's total oil production. Shell was first established in Nigeria in 1937 and was given a license of exploration in 1938. Four years before Nigeria’s Independence from Great Britain in 1960, Shell Nigeria discovered economically feasible oil in 1956. In 1957, Shell established the first oil field in the Delta region of Nigeria, located in the land owned by the Ogoni tribe. By 1958, Shell had begun exporting oil from Nigeria for the first time commercially. I. Question of Ethical Breach? Since the 1970’s, Shell has consistently...
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...A Study of Shell Oil and its Stakeholders in the Niger Delta Being a Leader – Final Project (part2) A basic review on the background of Shell Nigeria, its Stakeholders, Interests and Responsibilities. Contents: Chapter 1 • Introductions o Shell Global overview o Background on Shell Nigeria Chapter 2 • Historical Background of Shell in the Niger Delta • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics of Shell • Stakeholders , Problems and Models o The Chief Executive Officer of Shell o The Local Employee of Shell Nigeria o The Investor of Shell Global or Shell Nigeria Chapter 3 • Various Approaches to Leadership Skills o Trait approach o Contingency approach o Situational approach o Constitutive approach o Transactional leadership o Charismatic leadership o Transformational leadership o Situational leadership • Points I have learnt about myself • How would I bring resolution to the problem Chapter 4 • Conclusions and Recommendations Reference list Chapter 1 Introduction Shell Global overview Shell Global is one of the largest companies in the world, growing from a small shop in London nearly 200 years ago to one of the biggest global groups of energy and petrochemical companies in the world, with more than 90,000 employees currently employed in more than 80 countries worldwide, being led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Peter Voser based in the global headquarters in Hague, the Nederland’s, with the...
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...Jans Zijlker located oil in the Dutch East Indies and found Royal Dutch. The company partnered with Shell 17 years later, keeping 60%. Shell took care of the transportation and storage while Royal Dutch processed and refined the oil. The companies became world leaders in the oil industry after WWII. Shell partnered with British Petroleum and unwillingly, with the Nigerian government that ended up owning up to 35% of the partnership. Nigeria was Africa’s most highly populated nation. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp owned 55 percent of the Shell Petroleum Development co of Nigeria Limited joint venture. They settled similar deals with other oil companies like Chevron, Texaco, and Mobil. In the late 90s, oil counted for about 90% of the country’s foreign exchange profits and placed it among the top 10 oil producers and distributers in the world. In the Niger Delta, which most oil was extracted from, 20 tribes could be found. The Nigerian government had promised to invest to help these tribes but the organization in charge of the project claimed to have never received funding from the government. On the other hand, Shell had spent about $22M in community development projects to appease the tribes near the Niger Delta. Around that area, because of oil extraction, refining, storing, and transportation, the environment had been severely damaged. The people provoked oil spills in response to the environmental damage and with the intention of generating spill-cleaning employment...
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...Oil Spill in Nigeria ATURDAY, JULY 3, 2010 Oil Spill: Environment Practitioners Want Compensation from Shell From Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Okon Bassey in Uyo, 06.30.2010 The leadership of Environmental Health Service Providers Association of Nigeria has asked the Anglo-Dutch oil exploration giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company to commence the process of remediation of all areas affected by its operations and to also ensure that the affected communities are adequately compensated. Their demand is coming as Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited, an affiliate of American oil giant, Exxonmobil is battling to contain the effect of oil spill recorded June 20, 2010. The company has also just recorded another spill from its facility. The latest spill was reportedly discharged into the Atlantic Ocean from the Yoho production platform within the Qua Iboe oil fields. The Association’s National President, Chief Herbert Anyadike, who spoke to journalists in Abuja said based on the experience of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico where the company was compelled by the United States to pay compensation totalling about $20 billion, Shell should also be made to make similar commitment to the people of the Niger Delta. "You know what use to be in the riverine areas where oil will spill and remain there for many years without anyone taking care of it. Those people who have been here living with this problem over the years and have been clamouring for compensation...
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...entrance to energy and appreciate higher standards for everyday life. However these improvements could cause big pressure on our world’s resources, such as energy, fresh water and food. In the meantime, environmental change remains a big concern. Petroleum sector is one of the harmful sectors. At the beginning of using petroleum, people were using it for lightning mostly. During industrial revolution, chemist found that distillation separates petroleum to more useful forms. Engines started to work with some of new forms of petroleum, gasoline, fuel oil etc. Therefore, energy sources are used like power sources. It means people can use energy to make money. When it comes to money, things are changed. Lots of entrepreneurs established companies for removing oil, for refining it, for transporting it, for distributing and for selling it to public. One of them is Royal Dutch Shell. It is known as Shell commonly. It is a gas and oil...
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...08 Fall 08 Fall MSc OIL AND GAS MANAGEMENT International Environmental Law M28 CLS Ivenia M. Holt Impacts of oil pollution on the environment and wellbeing of a local indigenous community: A case study of the Ogoni people of Nigeria. 1.0 Introduction Ogoni is an ethnic group in the Niger (fig. 1) Delta area of Nigeria. It is a high oil-rich area, populated by approximately 500,000 people (Global nonviolent action database 1995). Ogoni’s who are hardworking people are farmers and fisher men, producing food not only for themselves but for most of the Niger Deltan’s (Ebeh n.d). The region has been plagued with serious environmental degradation resulting from activities of oil and gas exploration and exploitation since Shell petroleum development company discovered oil in Ogoni land in 1958 (Global nonviolent action database 1995). However, contaminated lands in this region were not only through wells and pipelines, but by gas flares which produced intense heat and chemical gas fogs that polluted nearby homes and rendered farmlands barren ( Johansen 2010). Oil exploration and production have been carried out by Shell international at Ogoniland since 1950s, but its operations were stopped in the 1990s due to disputes between Shell and the Ogoni’s (Kadafa 2012). As a result, Ogoniland has been characterized by oilfields and installations that have remained dormant, past spills, lack of maintenance, oil trapping and damages to oil infrastructure for over fifteen...
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