Today’s New York Times includes a front-page story on oil spills in Nigeria. Good investigative journalism is needed to bring attention to and increase understanding about this important environmental issue. Unfortunately, readers don’t get it with this article. Reporter Adam Nossiter simply gets the facts wrong.
The story, “Half a World From the Gulf, A Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old,” references an oil spill near the Qua Iboe Terminal operated by a joint venture between Mobil Producing Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
We confirmed the spill for Nossiter and gave him the following facts: It started on May 1; we immediately found the source of the leak and stopped it the same day; and, the total spill was about 200 barrels of oil.
You can imagine my surprise when I saw Nossiter’s published interpretation of the facts, where he said the spill “lasted for weeks” and caused “fisherman [to] curse their oil-blackened nets, doubly useless in a barren sea buffeted by a spill from an offshore ExxonMobil pipe.”
Furthermore, Nossiter misreports what was a peaceful demonstration, writing that “soldiers guarding an ExxonMobil site beat women who were demonstrating last month.” This is untrue, and there is no evidence to support the accusation – but we were never asked.
Obviously, we regret this spill. Our goal is to minimize our impact on the environment wherever we operate, in addition to protecting the safety of our employees and the local community. When we don’t get it right, we say so.
But we also believe that because we are forthcoming with the facts about our operations, those reporting on the facts should get it right.
I consulted to oil companies and the Nigerian government over an eight year period, advising them on crisis management, emergency planning, environmental standards, geographic information systems (GIS) and general health and safety programs. I can say that the laws that are enacted in the U.S. and Europe are applied in Nigeria by the companies that operate there. Additionally, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) operates as an oversight, audit and regulatory agency to facilitate compliance with regulations. A problem in Nigeria is that there is a lot of illegal tapping of pipelines and theft of product (raw and refined). This often leads to fatal consequences such as explosions, etc. Nigeria is a country wrestling with a lot of internal issues.
Having worked with Mobil and with Esso in Nigeria, I can say that other oil companies like Shell, Chevron, Agip and Total all looked to them as leaders in the areas of environmental, health and safety.
Its one thing to say you regret the spill but this is the 5th spill from this well in less than 8 months, first in December last year, then March 2010, May 2010 and twice in June 2010. There is no sabotage as that facility is not in a militant area so why is it leaking so much. And what exactly is mobil doing to clear it up. Maybe that should be the thrust of your post and not the press coverage
Osyman – I appreciate your comment and your concern. We strive to prevent any spills and deeply regret any that occur, regardless of how small or its impact. Each of the instances you mention were promptly reported to the regulatory authorities. To give some context, during the first six months of 2010, ExxonMobil’s affiliates in Nigeria produced about 900,000 barrels of oil per day from offshore production operations. During that time, the total volume of hydrocarbons released (less than 300 barrels) represented one ten-thousandth of one percent of the total volume, and most of this was recovered or dispersed.
In addition to preventing spills are you aware of any environmental preservation activities ExxonMobil in Nigeria is involved in?
Some other oil companies in nigeria are involved in conservation centres and sponsor towards the environment, unfortunately i havent come across any sponsored by ExxonMobil, if you can enlighten me that will be good