The Other Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20th released an estimated 4.9 million barrelsof oil and an unknown amount of methane into the Gulf of Mexico. The leak was successfully capped on July 15th. The fiasco was characterized by overly optimistic statements from BP and the White House on the impact of the situation. Even mainstream media responded with skepticism and evidence to the contrary. Despite the biblical scale of this catastrophe, it can only claim to be the worst marine oil spill in history, as Nigeria is home to a series of spills that dwarfs both the duration and magnitude of the Gulf Coast disaster.
British newspaper The Guardian reported in May on the lax regulations and maintenance
that contributed to the spills, which have all but destroyed Nigeria’s Niger Delta for local fishermen and farmers. The exact quantity of oil spilled is uncertain, as the companies involved have generally refrained from comment. Our best guess comes from a study performed by the British branch of the World Wildlife Fund in conjunction with the Nigerian federal government. They estimate that between 10.5 and 12 million barrels of oil were released into the environmentin the last fifty years. Most prominent among the oil producers responsible is the international giant Shell. Their official explanation for the massive damage done to the environment? Terrorists and thieves, naturally. Shell concedes that a great deal of oil has leaked from its pipelines, but it has denied culpability. It cites inept thieves and malicious terrorists as the cause of the spills, not decrepit infrastructure or poor design. In August, the Associated Press relayed a statement from Shell's Nigerian branch decrying the increased incidence of theft and the damage done to the environment and to society by black market suppliers and anti-Shell terrorists.
An upcoming report by the United Nations Environment Programme seems set to confirm Shell's cover story. The Guardian, never missing a beat, reports that after a $10 million study, the UNEP found that only 10% of the oil spills were caused by poorly maintained infrastructure, with the remainder caused by sloppy theft from local malcontents. The study was funded by Shell.
Shell is interested in shifting the blame in order to preserve not only its image but its bottom line as well. The Oil and Gas Journal reports that on August 16th, Shell attempted to declare force majeure, more commonly referred to as ‘Act of God’. This legal maneuver would absolve the company of liability for the spills as long as their cause was unpreventable, unpredictable, and unrelated to the way that Shell conducted operations.
The UNEP's findings could not have come at a better time for the company, as it gives
Shell the perfect cover to make their move. Shell is now able to redirect funds that would otherwise have been earmarked for oil spill cleanup toward the completion of a new 230-square mile oil and gas production complex eighty miles west of the Niger Delta.
Shell: Honesty, integrity, and respect for people.