In 2015 I read Naomi Klein’s book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, where she praised revolutionaries in the Niger Delta as fighting a righteous battle against a government in cahoots with sinister foreign oil companies who cared only for profit, not for the poor people who lived in the region. I remember talking to a colleague in the oil & gas industry telling me about a rig there that was attacked by these rebels, decades before, maybe in the 70s or 80s where much of the rig crew were killed. He knew someone who was there that lived through it. I thought Klein’s advocacy for anti-extractivist grassroots movements using the violent Niger Delta rebels as a positive example was rather sickening. In fact, those rebels rather than the oil companies are the ones who wreaked massive environmental havoc in the area.
The Niger
Delta has been a hot spot for oil theft for quite a long time. According to
Wikipedia: “Oil theft in Nigeria is facilitated by the pragmatic
co-operation between security forces, militia organizations, the local
population, and oil company employees who use a variety of methods to steal oil
from the multinational oil corporations that are stationed within the country.
Currently, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, and Agip are the five largest
multinational oil companies present in Nigeria.” Thus, we can see that it
is highly coordinated corruption, a criminal enterprise. Most oil is stolen by
tapping into pipelines (cold tapping and hot tapping), but oil trucks and oil
terminals can also be targets. Muhammadu Buhari, president of Nigeria from
2015-2023, attempted to target the enterprises but this led to more violence as
militant groups were involved in the oil theft networks. Some pipelines were sabotaged
as well and quite a bit of oil was spilled creating environmental pollution. Since
nearly 83% of Nigeria’s export revenue comes from exports of oil and petroleum
products, money can be made from the thievery. 70-80% of Nigeria’s oil
production comes from the Niger Delta region. A 2013 report by British think
tank Chatham House estimated that over 100,000 barrels of oil were stolen per
day. At current market prices that is over $8 million per day or nearly $3 billion
per year, and sometimes more. The Daily Independent reported that Nigeria lost
$46 billion due to oil theft between 2009 and 2020 – between 5% and 30% of its
daily oil production.
By hot tapping
into a high-pressure pipeline and diverting the oil through an illegal pipeline
these operations can remain undetected as there is little loss of pressure. Oil
is also siphoned from terminals into trucks and sold to nearby African countries
at higher prices. Oil is also transferred to nearby illegal hidden refineries
and refined products are sold to the local population.
According to
Wikipedia: “Since the presidency of Ibrahim Babangida from 1986 to 1993 and
his appointment of officials to supervise the oil producing sectors, the
Nigerian military has maintained extensive control over the crude oil trade. The
military personnel and Joint-Task Force members that are involved in the
illegal oil trade primarily serve as armed escorts for the stolen petroleum
products during large-scale operations and gather the intelligence that is
necessary for avoiding government probes in the region.” The Nigerian navy seizes
some illegal oil shipments by sea but is also sometimes complicit in helping
illegal ships on their way or helping captured ships to disappear. Buhari was
the first president to focus heavily on prosecuting the oil theft corruption
beginning in 2015. The new Nigerian president Bola Tinubu is continuing that
prosecution. The culture of corruption in oil theft is long-established, widespread,
and will be difficult to root out. Sabotage, presumably referring to just
creating spills, has been going on since the 1990s but began in earnest by the
Niger Delta Avengers after Buhari took power in 2016. Chevron’s pipelines were
mainly targeted. The Council on Foreign Relations noted in a 2019 report: As a
consequence of the high influx of oil pipeline sabotage in the Niger Delta, “oil
spills have “devastated mangroves, contaminated soil and groundwater, destroyed
the fish habitat, and posed a serious threat to public health.” Decades of
oil tapping and years of “bush refineries,” have also contributed to the
widespread pollution in the Niger Delta. In the 1970s and 1980s, most oil spills
were caused by well blowouts and corrosion of aging pipelines. The first spills
due to sabotage by locals or illegal tapping were reported in 1982.
Illegal refineries
are located in the many creeks hidden in the brush. Oil is delivered by boat.
The BBC described the process: “A fire is lit in a pit under the cauldron
and the crude oil is heated and condensed into different petroleum products
from kerosene to diesel. The heated oil is then funnelled into a cooling
chamber.” Illegal refinery explosions and fires have killed many people. In
April 2022, 100 people were killed in an explosion. In March 2023, 12 people
were killed in a blast. 25 people died in a blast in October 2021. The makeshift
refineries are clearly very dangerous. 200 people were killed in an explosion
in 2004 and 300 people were killed in two explosions in 2006. These are just
some of the deaths I could dig up. There were likely many more. The Niger Delta
is also the location where one of the highest fatality rates occurred at a
pipeline explosion. This was the 1998 Jesse pipeline explosion. According to
Wikipedia: “On October 18, 1998, a pipeline explosion occurred in the
community of Jesse (180 mi) southeast of Lagos, Nigeria. The cause of the blast
has been debated. The Nigeria government stated the explosion took place after
scavengers intentionally ruptured the pipeline with their tools and ignited the
blaze; however, others have stated the pipeline ruptured due to a lack of
maintenance and neglect with a cigarette igniting the fire. With 1,082 deaths
attributed to the blast, the 1998 Jesse explosion has the distinction of being
the most deadly pipeline explosion to have occurred in Nigeria.” The fire
was eventually put out by oilfield firefighters from the U.S. with nitrogen
foam. Many people died up to weeks later from their injuries.
Nigeria has
high unemployment, especially in the Niger Delta area. The oil theft enterprise
offers lucrative work opportunities. That is another factor that makes it hard
to root out. Workers may camp at the illegal refineries for weeks at a time and
often work at night as well. Bribery and widespread involvement from many
sectors of society, including government and law enforcement keep the
corruption safe to continue. Until there are significant alternative means of
employment in the area, it will continue.
The illegal
refineries cook the oil and flare off gases including methane and VOCs which make
soot. This black carbon hangs in the air as clouds of air pollution. Legitimate
refineries contribute to this pollution as well, but obviously have much better
separation of components and much cleaner flares. Cooking the crude oil in
these makeshift refineries produces massive amounts of soot for those who do
the work. Respiratory diseases are high in the general area.
The Nigerian
National Petroleum Company Limited made efforts in 2022 to crackdowns on oil
theft and illegal refineries. They reported 93 illegal pipeline connections
discovered, 69 illegal refineries destroyed, and 30 oil transport boats
confiscated in the Niger Delta in one week in July 2022. They also reported
five offshore oil spills during that time. One problem is that when there is a
crackdown, the militant groups threaten more sabotage. After illegal refineries
are destroyed new ones pop up. In another week in August 2022, 53 illegal
refineries and 35 illegal pipeline connections were discovered in one area. Oil
spills were also recorded. Premium Times reported in July 2021: “According
to the National Oil Spill Detection Agency (NOSDRA) data, the total number of
oil spills recorded from 2015 to March 2021 is 4,919…” This resulted in the
spilling of 235,206 barrels of oil, or nearly 10 million gallons of oil. Soil
quality has been severely degraded in some areas around spills and this will likely
affect agricultural yields and end up exacerbating poverty.
Just in the last
few weeks now in September 2023, the Nigerian Defense Headquarters reports that
the troops of Operation Safe Delta have uncovered and destroyed 89 illegal
refining sites in the Niger Delta. They also “discovered and destroyed 21
dugout pits, 56 boats, 138 storage tanks, 235 cooking ovens, six pumping
machines, one outboard engine, and two speedboats.” They also recovered quantities
of refined products. There is also violence as it was also reported that they “neutralised
17 terrorists, arrested 11 suspected criminals and rescued two kidnapped
hostages during the period” and recovered many weapons, including AK-47’s.
Niger Delta
oil theft and corruption is deeply rooted with decades of operations and many
people have the technical and financial know-how to pull it off. Until
there are effective alternative means of employment and other means of alleviating
poverty in the region, it will likely continue. Unfortunately, Nigeria has little
to no social welfare or safety nets. It is a country with a population the size
of the U.S. but is much smaller than the U.S., a little bit bigger than Texas
but smaller than Alaska. Government crackdowns on oil theft only slow it down a
little and can escalate tensions. Unfortunately, the corruption is likely to
continue as people need to make ends meet.
References:
Nigeria's
illegal oil refineries: Dirty, dangerous, lucrative. Mayeni Jones and Josephine
Casserly. BBC. April 27, 2022. Nigeria's illegal oil
refineries: Dirty, dangerous, lucrative - BBC News
NNPCL
intensifies anti-theft battle as oil output declines. The Punch. August 2022. NNPCL
intensifies anti-theft battle as oil output declines (msn.com)
Oil
theft in Nigeria. Wikipedia. Oil theft in Nigeria
- Wikipedia
How
troops destroyed 89 illegal refining sites in two weeks – Army. Ochogwu. Daily
Post Nigeria. September 14, 2023. How
troops destroyed 89 illegal refining sites in two weeks – Army (msn.com)
Nigeria
records 4,919 oil spills in 6 years, 4.5trn barrels stolen in 4 years —
Minister. Agency Report. The Premium Times. July 6, 2021. Nigeria
records 4,919 oil spills in 6 years, 4.5trn barrels stolen in 4 years —
Minister (premiumtimesng.com)
Oil
spill incidents and pipeline vandalization in Nigeria: Impact on public health
and negation to attainment of Millennium development goal: The Ishiagu example.
Kenneth Aroh, Ini Udosen Ubong, and Eze Chibuogwu. February 2010. Disaster
Prevention and Management An International Journal 19(1):70-87. (PDF)
Oil spill incidents and pipeline vandalization in Nigeria: Impact on public
health and negation to attainment of Millennium development goal: The Ishiagu
example (researchgate.net)
1998
Jesse pipeline explosion. Wikipedia. 1998 Jesse
pipeline explosion - Wikipedia
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