A new oil spill at a Shell facility in Nigeria is contaminating land and a river, disrupting the lives of fishermen and farmers in the Niger Delta.
According to the US news agency AP, the Nigeria Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) announced that the spill comes from the ‘Trans-Niger’ pipeline, operated by Shell, which runs through several communities in the Eleme area. , in Ogoniland, a region where the London oil giant has faced public criticism over frequent spills for decades.
The volume of the oil spill has not yet been determined, but activists have already published images of polluted land and black water, with dead fish on the surface, enveloped by crude oil, which spread over an area of at least 10 kilometers.
Spills in this region of the Niger Delta are frequent due to vandalism by oil thieves, but also because of the lack of maintenance of pipelines by companies.
“It’s one of the worst spills in Ogoniland for 16 years,” said environmental activist Fyneface Dumnamene, who monitors the region.
“It has lasted for more than a week, since the 11th of June, it has expanded to the Okulu River, which joins other tributaries and flows into the Atlantic Ocean, affecting several communities and forcing 300 fishermen to look for other stops”, added the environmentalist from the Center for Youth and Environmental Advocacy.
Shell stopped producing more than two decades ago in the region, but the pipeline continues to send crude from the production site to the export terminals, being permeable to vandalism and theft.
The leak has since been contained, but dealing with the impacts of the spill will be more difficult, said NOSDRA Director General Idris Musa.
“The response is delayed, but we are involved,” he guaranteed. According to the AP, the reason for the delay in the state response comes from distrust and a difficult historical relationship between the minority ethnic groups that inhabit the region and the central government, accused of marginalizing the region.
Communities “are very angry about the destruction of their way of life resulting from the obsolescence of Shell equipment and are concerned that the regulator and the company will say that there has been sabotage by residents”, concluded Dumnamene.
The reason for the oil leak is under investigation and has not yet been disclosed.
Brazil
Petrobras predicts oil record and can curb the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Six years from now, in 2029, Brazil should reach a record that is both historical and problematic: oil production in the country could reach a peak, with an estimated 5.4 million barrels per day.
The projection is by the Energy Research Company, linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The number is historical because, today, the country produces around 3 million barrels.
Russia
Oil prices rise, reserves fall after turbulent weekend
Oil prices rose, while global equities and the ruble tumbled on Monday morning, the 26th as investors reacted to the brief and chaotic uprising in Russia over the weekend.
Markets were largely focused on whether the turmoil in Moscow could disrupt global power supplies. Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of oil.
Markets ignore Russian political turmoil
Oil prices fell on Monday 26th June following an uprising by Russian mercenaries over the weekend, although political instability does not appear to pose an immediate threat to oil supplies from one of the world’s biggest producers.
Brent crude futures were down $0.08, or 0.1%, to settle at $73.77 a barrel by 0900 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 17 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $68.99.
