OIL SPILLAGE AND COMPENSATION IN NIGERIA

By ESV DEACON EMMANUEL OKPAMEN

Oil spill incidents have occurred in various parts and at different times along our coast.

According to the Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) between 1976 and 1996, a total of 4,647 incidents resulted in the spill of approximately 6%, 25% and 69% respectively, of total oil spilled in the Niger Delta area, were in land, swamp and offshore environment.

Some major spill in the coastal zone are Gocon’s Escravos spill in 1978 of about 300,000 barrels, SPDC Forcados Terminal Tank failure in 1978 of about 580,000 barrels and Texaco Funiwa-5 blowout in 1980 of about 400,000 barrels. Other oil spill incidents are those of Abudu pipeline in 1982 of 18,818 barrels, the Jesse fire incident in Ethiope west local government council of Delta State in January 1998 which nearly wiped out two communities in the area and claimed about a thousand of lives and the Idoho oil spill in January 1998.

Also the December 26, 2006 fire incident killed hundreds of people at Awori in Lagos State. The most publicized of million litres of crude oil got spilled into the environment. This occurred as a result of a blow out at Funiwa 5 offshore Station.

These are just few out of the many incidents of oil spillage in the Niger Delta region.

CAUSES OF OIL SPILLAGE 

Oil spills sometimes occur from oil blowouts, accidental ripping of underground crude oil pipelines or from man-made causes.

In Nigeria, fifty percent (50%) of oil spills is due to corrosion, twenty eight percent (28%) to sabotage and twenty one percent (21%) to oil production operations, one percent (1%) of oil spills is due to engineering drills, inability to effectively control oil wells, failure of machines and inadequate care in loading and unloading oil vessels.

The causes are categorized as follows:

Natural causes: Erosion or sand cut understand natural causes of oil spillage: similarly, natural wear and tear of oil pipelines are occasionally instrument to a burst in a pipeline like the case of Agenebode, Edo State.

Age of Facilities: Most pipelines from the flow stations are obsolete. By international standards, oil pipes ought to be replaced after 15 to 20 years, but most pipeline usage far exceeds that of the international standard making them susceptible to ripping or bursting.

Act of Sabotage: It is common place for pressure groups to press home their demands from government and for political point to sabotage activities in the oil industry. Cases abound where oil pipelines are burst and oil wells and installations damaged caused to fail by miscreants or aggrieved host communities.

Equipment Failure: Oil spillage attributable to this cause might be due to over-pressure or over-flow of tanks, value failure, and corrosion of pipelines and rupture of pipelines.

Inadequate Maintenance: The pipelines are poorly maintained. Some of these pipes are laid above ground level without adequate surveillance exposing them to wear, tear and other dangers.

Accident: Accidental spills are both local and worldwide phenomena. Oil tankers get involved in accidents high sea discharging their contents into the waters there by polluting and damaging vast ecosystem.

EFFECTS OF OIL SPILLAGE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The ecological effects of oil spillage are spelt out as follows: –

 Pollution of sources of fresh waters streams and springs.

 Destruction of farmlands, economic trees and pollution of the soil.

 It has adverse effect on marine life, which has become contaminated.

 Negative consequences on human health from consuming contaminated seafood.

 Loss of fishing right.

 Loss of income to the local farmers.
 Dislocation of human settlements and activities.

FACTORS AFFECTING QUANTUM OF COMPENSATION PAYABLE:

The factors usually taken into consideration as regards quantum of compensation include:

 The intensity of the spillage.

 The size of the crops affected whether they are seedlings, medium or mature.

 The impacted community and its population.

 Time of year the spillage occurred in the dry or raining season.

 Fishing right and other items destroyed.

CONCLUSION:

There is no doubt that the oil spill incidence constitute danger to the inhabitant of the host communities, hence the oil companies should ensure prompt payment of adequate compensation to claimants for losses suffered as a result of oil spillages.

The measures stated above will no doubt go a long way to bring relief and harmony between the oil companies and the host communities.

ESV DEACON EMMANUEL OKPAMEN
ESTATE SURVEYOR & VALUER, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE.