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6 EFFECTS OF OIL EXPLORATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA OF NIGERIA

Environmental Pollution / By

There are about five stages of activities that are carried out before petroleum products gets to the consumers. These are oil prospecting and exploration, oil production, transportation of the oil to the refinery or processing plant, petroleum refining and transport and distribution of the petroleum products. In oil prospecting and exploration, geologists and geoscientist do seismic surveys where a lot of data about the sub-surface (onshore or land) and offshore is generated and interpreted for the presence of deposit of crude oil or gas or both. An exploration well is drilled to confirm the presence of crude oil or gas in a particular surveyed area. The series of activities during exploration are:

  • the creation of a database
  • the analysis of available data
  • the programming of mapping and geological and photogeological surveys
  • seismic surveys and interpretation of seismic data
  • the choice of well locations, drilling and
  • the analysis of results and the decision as to whether to proceed with the application for a lease or to release the area after fulfilling obligations.

 The next phase is field appraisal where other wells are drilled to collect more data from the reservoir. The development stage takes place after successfully completing the appraisal period and before the beginning of the field production and includes the design of surface production facilities to separate the oil, water and gas. Oil exploration started in early 1950s in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A commercial quantity of crude oil was struck on June 12, 1956 in Oloibiri, a village in the present day Bayelsa state. Nigeria exported the first cargo of crude oil in 1958 when oil production started. The economy was driven by the agricultural sector until the oil boom of the 1970s when crude oil took over. That is why the proliferation of oil wells in the Niger Delta and the activities of the oil companies has rendered the economy and livelihood of the inhabitants useless. The continual reliance on oil has bred civil instability, corruption, environmental degradation and economic exploitation by the government and International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Each of the activities or operations in oil exploration affects the environment (air, land, and water). The effects of oil exploration are enumerated as follows:

  1. destruction of flora and farmlands;

During prospecting, deforestation takes place because a lot of trees are cut down. Consequently, the soil surface is exposed and causes the soil nutrients to diminish. The result of the diminishing soil nutrients is reduction in poor harvest or reduction in agricultural activities. The poor harvest will in turn cause hunger which is not in sync with United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 1. The construction of roads, facilities and drilling sites requires the use of heavy equipment and can destroy flora and farmlands and the damage is often irreversible.

Destruction of farmlands by oil in Ikarama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

2. destruction of human settlement;

Oil exploration activities in the oil producing areas of Nigeria has caused coastal recession. During exploration and drilling the gas that is flared has contributed to global warming which has made ice caps to melt thereby causing flooding in coastal regions around the world. In Nigeria, this has led to the displacement of some of the settlements from their original locations. An example is Awoye in Ondo state which is now about 2 km into the ocean because of serious coastal erosion and land submergence. Previous settlements are now fishing grounds.

 

Source: https://dailytrust.com/ilaje-original-sites-of-settlements-now-fishing-grounds

3.   noise pollution and vibration from seismic shooting;

The seismic shooting causes noise pollution and vibration to humans, terrestrial animals, vegetation, and aquatic animals. Kusku and coworkers  have compiled sound pressure levels (SPLs) of human-generated acoustic noise exposures and their effects on marine animals and fish. Some of the effects include induced alarm reflex of Rockfish caused by air gun sound; shift of hearing threshold of Bottlenose Dolphin from ship and boat noise; and damage of hearing sensory epithelia of the Pink Snapper from seismic air gun noise. Seismic shooting also causes destabilization of sedimentary materials. These materials cause increase in turbidity, blockage of filter feeding apparatuses in benthic (bottom-dwelling) fauna, and reduction of plant photosynthetic activity due to reduced light penetration. The seismic shooting can also cause some of the fishes to die. The effect on humans may also include hearing loss, inability to sleep at night and speaking in high tones and pitch. The noisy and dirty environment can also turn away visitors from the communities that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.

 

Killing of fish by oil exploration and drilling in Ikarama, Bayelsa State,Nigeria
Effect of oil on animals in Ikarama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

4. dislocation of economic activity;

Oil exploration in the Niger Delta of Nigeria has caused increase in dislocation of farmers and fishermen who depend on farming and selling of fish for their livelihood, respectively. The land is severely degraded with a consequent decrease in agricultural profitability. The farmers would have no choice than to move to a different area to look for an arable and fertile land to farm or look for another means of livelihood leading to abandonment of their cultural heritage. Most fishermen live in camps, and when the chance of catching enough fish to sustain their livelihood is dwindled, they would likely move to another area to practice their trade.  

5. community crises on the social environment because of compensations.

Oil exploration has also caused inter/intra communal crisis in oil producing areas of the Niger Delta. Consequently, some of the people who are not on the side of the IOCs have fled their communities to urban areas for fear of being killed. Oil exploration has also created crises among some of oil-bearing communities because of compensations. Examples include the disagreement of ownership of land between Ogume and Emu Ebendo, Umuseti and Umusadege, Benekuku and Umusadege, and the most recent one within Iberede community, all in Delta State. Oil exploration has also led to family disintegration because most members of the family feel cheated.

6. Offshore drilling oil pollution and chemical disposal affects the marine environment

Crude oil pollution caused by drilling in offshore wells greatly harms the marine ecosystem. It affects the fishes and marine animals. A recent marine oil pollution episode is that of OML 29 Well 1Platform in Nembe, Bayelsa State which occurred on November 5, 2021. The incident affected dozens of nearby fishing settlements along the Nembe coastline and the Santa Barbara River which meanders through the Niger Delta before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. This incident, was however, attributed to a third party interference or vandalism. Apart from the oil spills from drilling operations, there is the possibility of drilling mud and other chemicals being released to the marine environment. These discharges also affect the fishes and marine animals.

The endowment of the Niger Delta with crude oil has become a curse, rather than a blessing. The key stakeholders in the Nigeria Oil and Gas industry: Federal Government, the IOCs and indigenous oil and gas companies and the host communities should synergize to arrest the degradation of the ecosystem. All parties should be sincere in dealing with each other. Adequate compensation should be paid to host communities whose ecosystem have been degraded. The 13 percent derivation fund which is allocated to oil-producing communities by the Federal Government through the state governments as enshrined in section 162, sub-section 2 of the Nigerian constitution should be used judiciously to develop the host communities. The activities of the oil companies should be checked closely to ensure they comply with all extant laws governing their operations. On the part of the host communities, they should work closely with oil companies to stop vandalism of oil facilities. In addition, adequate Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should be carried out before establishing any exploration and drilling operations in the Niger Delta to forestall further degradation of the environment. Finally, due to the issue of global warming caused by fossil fuels exploitation, the call to transit to more environmentally friendly energy alternatives such as wind and solar energy would help to arrest the degradation the Niger Delta ecosystem.

MULTINATIONAL AND NATIONAL OIL CORPORATIONS, THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE ECOLOGICAL GENOCIDE IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

Environmental Pollution / By

Prior to the discovery of oil, Nigeria strongly relied on agricultural exports to supply and sustain its economy. However, as of the year 2000, oil and gas exports accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue, as well as generating more than 14% of its GDP. It also provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of government budgetary revenues. The situation has not changed in 2022. Nigeria’s proven oil reserves make Nigeria the tenth most petroleum-rich nation and by far the most affluent in Africa. In mid-2001 its crude oil production was averaging around 2,200,000 barrels (about 350,000 m3) per day. The amount of oil extracted from Nigeria was expected to expand from 15,000 barrels per day (2,40 m3/d) in 2003 to 1.27 million barrels per day (202,000 m3/d) in 2010.  Current production is around 1.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) and is unable to meet its daily production target of 1.753 (mbpd) given to her on May 5, 2022 by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The reason given for the failure to meet the quota is that vandals steal crude oil to operate their artisanal refineries.

Nearly all of the country’s primary reserves are concentrated in around the delta of the Niger River but off-shore rigs are also prominent in the well-endowed coastal region. Niger Delta region has about 5284 drilled wells with about 603 discovery wells. The most productive region of the nation is the coastal Niger Delta Basin in the Niger Delta or “South-south” region. There is a well-developed network of pipeline used for the transportation of crude oil. Nigeria’s petroleum is classified mostly as “light” and “sweet”, as the oil has little quantity of sulfur. Nigeria is the largest producer of sweet oil in OPEC. This sweet oil is similar in composition to petroleum extracted from the North Sea. This crude oil is known as “Bonny light”. Names of other Nigerian crudes, all of which are named according to export terminal, are Qua Iboe, Escravos blend, Brass River, Forcados, and Pennington light, Antan blend just to mention a few.

The terminals in the country used for exportation of petroleum are six. One each is owned by Agip, Mobil, Chevron and Texaco while Shell owns two. Shell also owns the Forcados Terminal, which is capable of storing 13 million barrels (2,100,000 m3) of crude oil in conjunction with the nearby Bonny Terminal. Mobil operates primarily out of the Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom State, while in Delta State a terminal with a storage capacity of 3.6 million barrels (570,000 m3) in Escravos is owned by Chevron. Agip operates the Brass Terminal in Brass, a town 113 kilometres (70 miles) southwest of Port Harcourt and has a storage capacity of 3,558,000 barrels (565,700 m3). Texaco operates the Pennington Terminal.

The Agbami oilfields hit full production in 2005, at 250,000 barrels (40,000 m3) a day. Operated by Chevron’s Star Deep and a company called Famfa, and it is the only concession of one off-shore; three others are named Erha, Bonga and Akpo. Deepwater drilling for oil is especially attractive to oil companies because the Nigerian government has very little share in these activities and it is more difficult for the government to regulate the offshore activities of the companies.

Natural gas reserves are well over 5,300 km3 (187×1012 cu ft) and about three times as substantial as the crude oil reserves. The biggest natural gas initiative is the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas Company, which is operated jointly by several companies and Nigerian government. It began operation in 1999.

Why should one term what is going on in the Niger Delta an act of Genocide? Genocide is defined “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race.”. There are various ways of carrying out genocide on targeted human populations whether intentional or unintentional, directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly and overtly or covertly. The world has witnessed various acts of genocide which were economically, politically, ethnically, culturally, religiously and racially induced forms of genocide caused by military invasion, war, harmful diseases been introduced, preventing the access to food, and environmental means of ecosystem and destruction and by extension, food production that paralyses the ability of the indigenous population to support its existence and survival. Going by the current rate and extent of unchecked widespread damage and degradation of the Niger Delta ecological space through crude oil and gas exploration and exploitation, it is not out of place to declare it as an act of ecological genocide because all the components of the ecological systems are affected and threatened. For, to disconnect and detach a people from their traditional and basic life-supporting means and source of livelihood is an effective way of enforcing their systematic elimination from the face of their earthly habitation.

According to Smith and coworkers, the critical function of ecosystem is to regulate climate effects, and influence soil, water and air quality. When this critical function is been dismantled and disrupted by deactivating and paralyzing the ability of the ecosystem to regulate its associated environmental components, then a series and chain of catastrophic results are triggered and set on cause. Petroleum exploration and production operations have induced economic, social and cultural changes, thereby affecting lifestyles and socioeconomic activities of local indigenous Niger Delta populations in various ways.

National Standards of environmental provisions imposed on petroleum operations include: regulations relating to safe working; regulations relating to the conservation of resources; the prevention of pollution of water courses and atmosphere; obligations of Environmental Impact Assessment

Responsibility and Liability

1. Responsibility of State (Art. 235 UNCLOS): States shall be liable in accordance with International Law. To ensure that recourse is available for prompt and adequate compensation or other relief in respect of damage caused by pollution of the marine environment by petroleum operators under their jurisdiction.

2. Liability of the Operator:

– International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution (CLC, 1969 and 1992)

– International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds 1971, 1992 and Supplementary Fund), provide compensation for oil pollution damage resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers.

Despite the existence of numerous policies, regulations, laws, treaties and liabilities to control and effect the best practices by petroleum exploration and production companies, environmental impacts still arise from onshore seismic operations including the use of seismic equipment; shot-hole drilling produce acoustic sources (vibrations and noise from earth moving equipment and explosions) which cause disturbance to wildlife, marine organisms and humans with devastating impacts. Deforestation or vegetation cleared with associated topsoil removal for access construction, site preparation, camp operations, decommissioning and aftercare, etc., trigger erosion and changes in surface hydrology. Other activities include onshore exploration and appraisal drilling which lead to vegetation been cleared for roads and site preparations and thereby triggering erosion and changes in surface hydrology and also effect disturbance of the local population and wildlife. These activities lead to loss of land, pollution, ecological damage, land use conflicts, influx/settlement through new access routes, disturbances and interference on local populations.

However, this gruesome pollution and widespread destruction is not just a threat to the indigenous populations but a systematic tool of silent ongoing regional genocide to the Niger Delta people of Nigeria themselves; and it is mindboggling that the Nigeria government and relevant bodies have continued to maintain blind eyes and deaf ears to the gory situation and plight over the decades.

The people of the Niger Delta states of Nigeria live in extreme poverty even in the face of great material wealth found in soils and the waters by their homes. According to Amnesty International in 2006, 70% of the people in the Niger River Delta live on less than US$1 per day. This ecological sabotage leading to loss of sources of livelihood and food security is a regional injustice with a genocidal impact which is one of the worst examples or cases of human rights violation anywhere on planet earth.

Conclusively, when looking at the situation at hand, a few questions that come to mind and begging for answers are:

1. Why do these multinational oil corporations maintain a blind eye to the plight of the indigenous Niger Delta people despite the grave dangers and grim uncertainties surrounding the future ecological existence, survival and wellbeing of the Niger Delta ecological space and its human component? Is it because the indigenous people are not their own people? Will they do the same if their own people are affected thereof?

2. Are we wrong to say or conclude that the multinational and independent oil companies play a major role and are a big part in the ecological genocide taking place  across the Niger Delta region, and thereby stand to be as guilty as charged for violation of the environmental and human rights of the victimized Niger Delta people

3. Who will come to the rescue of the helpless and hopeless indigenous Niger Delta people, and when will that be?

These and many more are questions begging for answers but whatever may be the case, it is worthy of note that the ongoing ecological genocide perpetrated by the multinational, independent, national oil corporations and the Nigerian government remains a grave concern to all concerned stakeholders, lovers of nature and humanity, well-meaning and good people of the global village because a regional environmental injustice leads to global environmental injustice which affects all of the human in one way or the other.