The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) operated Joint Venture recorded eight crude oil theft and sabotage-related spill incidents in Adibawa field in Eastern Niger Delta between January and June 2013. Nearly 500 barrels of oil were spilled into the environment from these incidents.

The Adibawa field straddles Biseni, Edagberi and Ikarama communities, and majority of the spills were caused when unknown persons inflicted extensive hacksaw cuts on pipelines. A joint team comprising regulators, government ministries, SPDC and communities investigated each of the spills and confirmed their findings in signed-off reports.

The latest spills occurred on the Adibawa - Okordia pipeline at Ikarama on 24 May and 4 June 2013 respectively. The largest individual spilled volume of 447 barrels came from the June incident. Investigation is continuing into another spill which occurred on the Adibawa North East flowline at Biseni on 22 May.

In line with its spill response strategy and at the earliest opportunity, SPDC shut down the pipelines, mobilised teams to the site of the incidents for containment and recovery of spilled oil. Cleanup of impacted areas is planned for later in the year.

 (Spill-international, Edited by Topco)