Tag Archives: niger delta

The Big 3: oil co’s and legal cases this month

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Three of the world’s biggest private oil companies face landmark legal actions this February. Here is a brief run down of the main cases, what they are about and why they matter.

1. US v BP

At the centre of the legal fallout from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010 is a  complex civil trial which begins on 27 February. The trial will determine who is to blame, how much should be paid in damages and penalties and who should pay them. BP is one of a number of defendants, alongside Transocean (owner and operator of the rig) and Halliburton. There are over 120,000 claimants involved, from Gulf Coast fishers to the US government, and a massive 72 million pages of documents. The trial, heard before a Judge Carl Barbier without a jury, is expected to last all year. Continue reading →

Video: Chevron rig blazes off the coast of Nigeria

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This disturbing video from Al Jazeera shows what’s left of Chevron’s KS Endeavour gas rig, which exploded on 16 January 2012. Over 20 days later the site is still ablaze and the intense flames and plumes of smoke can be seen from the nearby fishing village. Local community activists released this footage:  

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What I’m reading about this week

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Metro: ‘Sustainable’ funds investing millions in oil companies and banks. This article mentions Platform’s work on Shell Nigeria and uses it to question the ethics of investment in oil companies.

Heat or Eat? Fuel Poverty Action occupy British Gas headquarters.

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Legal Oil, Ethical Oil and Profiteering in the Niger Delta and the Canadian North

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In this guest blog post, Professor Anna Zalik of York University Canada explores how governments and multinationals criminalise protest and gloss over the environmental injustices of oil extraction.

Q: What does the Canadian Government’s fury at opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline have to do with the Nigerian ‘legaloil’ campaign?

A: Both positions are about justifying private profits and criminalizing protest. Continue reading →

In pictures: Chevron rig still burning in Nigeria

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On 16 January, between 4.30am and 5am, Chevron’s KS Endeavour drilling rig exploded six miles off the coast of Nigeria after the company lost control of the gas well. Two workers were reported killed. Ten days on, the fire continues to burn.

Photos courtesy of Morris Alagoa at ERA/FoE Nigeria. Continue reading →

Oil, art & human rights links

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Shell sponsorship: there's something unsettling about the Shell branded baby blankets in this hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Nevertheless, corporate sponsorship and community projects cannot absolve oil companies like Shell for creating a health crisis and human rights tragedy in the Niger Delta.

EU oil companies including Shell and Total will be banned from importing and purchasing Iranian oil by new sanctions, reported Reuters. As Iran threatens to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of global oil shipments, the UK foreign minister William Hague downplayed the likelihood of war.

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Shell’s Bonga oil spill hits Nigerian communities

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Click on the image to view the full video from NTD

Shell’s major oil spill at the offshore Bonga facility in Nigeria is threatening the livelihoods of at least 13 different coastal communities, reports Reuters. As thick crude oil continues washing up on Nigeria’s shoreline, Shell is denying responsibility and claims that “non-Bonga oil” from a third party spill is to blame. A local resident from Bisangbene told the Vanguard newspaper that Shell’s Bonga spill had ruined livelihoods in the fishing village. Mr. Goodnews Gereghewei said:

our occupation is predominantly fishing and our fishermen have withdrawn from the sea because of the massive oil spill due to fear of being roasted alive since they fish mostly at night with local lamps.

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Shell spill worst in a decade, says Nigerian regulator

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Nigeria’s oil spill agency, NOSDRA, says that Shell’s Bonga oil spill “is likely the worst [offshore spill] in a decade.”

Peter Idabor of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that oil from the spill in Shell’s Bonga field has spread to roughly 100 nautical miles. Idabor said he expects oil to begin washing ashore on Nigeria’s southern coast later Thursday.

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Satellite images of Shell’s massive spill in Nigeria

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Envisat ASAR image analyzed by SkyTruth (http://www.skytruth.org) - data courtesy European Space Agency

The Bonga oil field, one of Shell’s largest offshore oil facilities was shut down on Tuesday 20 December after a massive oil spill. The cause? It appears to be a combination of human error and / or equipment failure. What the BBC describes as “leak during a transfer of oil to a tanker” led to a reported 40,000 barrels of crude oil spilling into Nigerian waters. Continue reading →

Eni misled shareholders over gas flaring in Nigeria

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A new report by CRBM, Corner House and FoE Nigeria and others condemns oil majors Eni, Total and Shell for their record of environmental and social devastation in Nigeria. It also dissects EU ‘energy security’, arguing that a policy that locks the EU into dependence on fossil fuels leads to increased conflict and climate chaos.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Eni misleads shareholders over end to gas flaring in Nigeria

Italian oil major Eni is misleading shareholders over the company’s commitment to end gas flaring in Nigeria, according to a new report [1] by an international delegation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), following a recent fact finding mission to the Niger Delta. Gas flaring is illegal in Nigeria. Continue reading →