Category: West Africa

Nnimmo Bassey , an award-winning environmentalist, is one of Africa’s leading campaigners, particularly for his work in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. Mr. Bassey was a human rights advocate in the 1980s. He was imprisoned many times by late president Sani Abacha’s government in the 1990s. He is co-founder and chair of Friends of the Earth International and Environmental Rights Action. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the Heroes of the Environment. In this interview with Yemisi Akinbobola for Africa Renewal, Mr. Bassey discusses the continuing protests by the Niger Delta people against oil pollution and makes the case for compensation. Can you provide some historical context to the struggle in the Niger Delta region? It’s really a long history. The first commercial export of oil was in 1958, but before then there had been some very serious encounters with forces whose major interest was to exploit […]

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Nnimmo Bassey , an award-winning environmentalist, is one of Africa’s leading campaigners, particularly for his work in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. Mr. Bassey was a human rights advocate in the 1980s. He was imprisoned many times by late president Sani Abacha’s government in the 1990s. He is co-founder and chair of Friends of the Earth International and Environmental Rights Action. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the Heroes of the Environment. In this interview with Yemisi Akinbobola for Africa Renewal, Mr. Bassey discusses the continuing protests by the Niger Delta people against oil pollution and makes the case for compensation. Can you provide some historical context to the struggle in the Niger Delta region? It’s really a long history. The first commercial export of oil was in 1958, but before then there had been some very serious encounters with forces whose major interest was to exploit […]

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The Federal Government appears set to privatise the nation’s four refineries in Port-Hacourt, Warri and Kaduna. Mr. Ben Dikki, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, announced this at a briefing in Abuja, yesterday. He said however, that his team would first secure the cooperation of labour leaders, especially in the oil industry before taking concrete steps in that regard. His words, "it should be noted that the labour unions have expressed their willingness to dialogue with government to develop appropriate business models for the refineries. This will be followed up and should lead to the commencement of the privatization process in 2014. "The steering committee is expected to commence work soon and develop an appropriate framework for privatization that is acceptable to all stakeholders. "The labour leaders have said that they are not averse to the privatization of the refineries. What they want is […]

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said Tuesday that Nigeria lost 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day or 109.50 million barrels in 2013 from severe attacks on critical export pipelines. The NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, gave the figures at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Yakubu said incessant vandalism of crude oil export pipelines and domestic crude oil and petroleum product pipelines impacted negatively on the economy. According to him, what Nigeria lost in 2013 was equivalent to the total output of Equatorial Guinea and larger than the entire production of Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun and Gabon. Yakubu said the shut-ins of such significant production had prompted the federal government to take some drastic actions to tackle the […]

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Nigerian oil officials said unchecked theft from pipelines may crimp the African nation’s ability to meet its target of adding 30 percent to crude output by the end of the decade. Stealing and sabotage cost the country 300,000 barrels of oil a day last year, Andrew Yakubu, group managing director of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said today at a conference in Abuja, the capital. Nigeria must do more to maintain its position as Africa ’s biggest producer, he said, adding that the country has a target to raise production to 3 million barrels a day by 2020, from about 2.3 million now. The nation’s oil output fluctuated by as much as 420,000 barrels a day between 2011 and 2013 amid pipeline attacks that halted flows from some fields. Nigeria has responded to theft by starting air surveillance of pipelines and allocating 15 billion naira ($91 million) for security […]

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Exports from a major oil terminal in Nigeria operated by a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) remain shut-in nearly two weeks after the discovery of a leak in the export pipeline, a spokesman for the company said Monday. Company employees at the Shell Petroleum Development Co have observed a small sheen around the export line to the Forcados oil terminal in the Western Niger Delta during helicopter flyovers. But a spokesman for Shell said less than 15 barrels of oil had spilled since the leak was first spotted March 4. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but leaks from the country’s large network of pipelines–often blamed on oil theft–frequently disrupt its oil exports. Last month, SPDC said it shut its 150,000 barrel-a-day Nembe Creek trunkline because of an oil-theft related leak. Write to Sarah Kent at [email protected]

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Pandemonium broke out, weekend, along Ikate-Akute area of Ogun State following a shootout between operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti Pipeline Vandalism Unit and pipeline vandals. A suspected pipeline vandal was arrested, while others reportedly escaped, abandoning five of their operational speed boats with 4,000 empty 50-litre jerry cans. The vandals, said to be numbering over 12, reportedly stormed the spot apparently to vandalise a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, petroleum pipeline on Saturday morning, when the operatives swooped on them. During interrogation, the arrested suspect, who identified himself as Abbey Daniel, said he indulged in vandalism to save Nigerians from fuel scarcity. He said: "I am terribly sorry. But we did it in an attempt to help Nigerians to get fuel, which has become scarce. "Since the scarcity, Nigerians have been suffering, particularly artisans. And since there is high demand for fuel […]

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The Nigerian Navy says it destroyed 260 illegal oil refineries and burned 100,000 tons of contraband fuel to try to halt oil thefts bedeviling the economy of Africa’s biggest petroleum producer. Commanding officer Capt. Musa Gemu said sailors of the NNS Delta destroyed the refineries in the Warri South-West area of southern Delta region Friday night and arrested five suspects. He spoke Saturday night. Similar missions in the past have failed to slow estimated daily thefts of 200,000 barrels worth more than $20 million. Critics and analysts say most is stolen by politically-connected criminal cartels for sale on the international market. The small-time criminals targeted in such attacks can reconstruct crudely built sites in days. Shell Nigeria, the biggest operator, says it lost $1 billion to oil thefts in 2013.

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… A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Close Close Open Photographer: Dulue Mbachu/Bloomberg A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Goi is gone, given over to nature. Residents of the former fishing and farming […]

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