OIL BUNKERING: THE USUAL SUSPECT--> Niger Delta

Rising illegal bunkering as new challenge in Niger Delta

After recently sailing through some of the Niger Delta waterways and creeks, BEN EGUZOZIE writes that amnesty programme may have reduced attacks on oil installations , but it has thrown up a buoying bunkering business in the region.

The 2009 amnesty offer by the Federal Government to militants has produced some positive results, to the effect that, attacks to oil installations in the Niger Delta region have almost stopped completely in the last 18 months. But, other dimensions to the militancy have rather been upbeat. These are crude oil stealing –

otherwise called illegal bunkering and illegal refining.

The joint military task force, Operation Restore Hope, which was deployed to the Niger Delta following increased militants’ attacks and destruction of oil facilities from 2004, said, it now grapples with increasing illegal bunkering and illegal refineries. Since January this year, the JTF said it has impounded more barges, wooden boats, drums of oil, and other container vessels – all laden with stolen crude oil. Added to this act is erecting of illegal refineries – which is using drums to carry out rough heating up of the stolen crude oil to produce less-finished premium motor spirit (PMS) commonly called fuel, or poor quality automotive gas oil (AGO) known as diesel. These activities, said the JTF, are not localized to one state – they are massive –happening in most of the oil producing states of the region. But states like Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta top the log; while others are seeing minimal activities.

A sampler: a barge seized recently at Customs Channel with large contents of crude oil (Rivers State); several large wooden boats, called Cotonou Boats seized; over 500 illegal refineries spread over an area the size of eight football pitches along Mbiama Rive+++r destroyed by the JTF. The poorly refined products was worth about N15 million. But the latest crude cache was the March 01 confiscation of a massive barge, named Monica.

Timothy Antigha, an Army Lt-Col and the JTF media coordinator disclosed that, the barge was impounded by the joint patrol team led by Greg Omorogbe (Lt-Col), commander of the 82 Battalion, Bonny, at Ajegunle Ojorokoto in Andoni area along the Opobo – Bonny Waterways.

The barge measures 50 metres long, 12 metres wide and has a depth of three metres. The depth of crude oil inside it is 2.65 metres. “Invariably, the barge is almost filled (to the brim) with crude oil,” said Antigha. Preliminary investigations indicate that the crude oil content in the barge can readily fill-up more than 36 giant size oil trucks. Also, it is estimated that the barge was being prepared for voyage outside Nigeria, ostensibly to supply an ocean tanker offshore, or provide feedstock for a standard oil refinery. When refined, the estimated value of the products would run into hundreds of million naira.

In Delta State, a massive petroleum products depot in Warri South was seized. Furthermore, about 800 drums of illegally refined petroleum products were confiscated, with their vendors apprehended. Antigha said they would soon appear in court to face charges of economic crime. For Bayelsa State, the story is not different. During the same period (January to March, 2011), a vessel named MT Varik with 15 crew members, carrying 240,000 litres of stolen crude oil along Sangana River, was impounded.

In all this, JTF has arrested more than 52 people related with the oil stealing, illegal refineries and illegal depots business. So far, the JTF spokesman, Antigha said the force would not yet disclose the identities of those arrested in connection with the owners of the barges, or those funding them. He informed that disclosure of their identities at this stage would jeopardize series of ongoing investigations; and thereby stall further information that could be extracted regarding the burgeoning crude oil bunkering business in the Niger Delta.

What reasons have been advanced by mostly the young people who engage in the crude theft? Those arrested said they were pushed by widespread poverty in their communities, which caused them to go into the massive illegal oil trade? Although Antigha, accepted the poverty claim, he however adduced the trend to greed and quest for instant wealth. He also conceded that eradicating the bunkering business in Nigeria’s oil sector was a tall order. He further said: “The JTF is seriously committed to the fight to eradicate illegal oil bunkering and crude theft in the Niger Delta. Those who hope to make a living from (these) economic crimes in the region should have a rethink, as nemesis will soon catch up with them.”

The burgeoning crude oil bunkering and siphoning into barges, wooden boats, or erecting illegal depots and illegal refining outlets have been going on with attendant spills on the waterways and the shorelines. At the Bodo and Bomu areas of Gokana (Ogoni land), it was discovered that whole mangrove regions have been eaten up by oil spills with attendant fires. A visit to Bodo last week aboard a JTF gunboat revealed frightening scenes. Majority of the shorelines have lost their entire vegetation; while spilled crude oil continually spread on the water surfaces. The air smells perpetually of crude oil.

It is common to see leaking pipelines, from the activities of thieves. Omorogbe, the 82 Battalion commander, said Bodo and Bomu have posed the greatest nightmares to the JTF men. On a daily basis, young people burst crude pipelines to siphon the products.

Narrated Omorogbe: “Imagine that when we patrol in the morning hours, we see them; on sighting our gunboats they run away. We would seize their implements, which usually include a speedboat, large valves, welding machine, hacksaw, long hose, drums, coveralls, generating set, etc. But on returning few hours later, we would see another set or the earlier team, even more people with more equipment. It beats my imagination why they are so desperate here, more than any other area in the oil region. We have decided to set up a Houseboat base nearby, from where we undertake constant patrolling of the Bodo and Bomu areas by our forces.”

By far, oil spill has remained a big issue both to the oil communities and the oil companies. Shell, Agip, Chevron, Mobil, have created or suffered spills in varying degrees. In 2009, Shell said it suffered 132 spills in 95 incidents, which led to 103,000 barrels wasted, from mainly sabotage. The Anglo Dutch oil giant said last year that, deductions from its pipeline engineers show there occurs one spill every four days, due to the activities of illegal refinery operators. Last year saw over 3000 spills. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) team which finished up an assessment of spill impacts in Ogoni land due to Shell’s activities came out with a verdict that much of the spills were by sabotage rather than operational failure. This generated much furore from the Ogonis. But the oil company spilled 2,300 barrels from 37 incidents which came from “operational failures such as corroded pipelines, equipment failure and human error.”

For the community people things are worse. Their means of livelihood – fishing and farming – are usually eroded. For Emago-Kugbo community in Rivers State, spills have gravely impacted them – since May 1960 – till January this year. There appears no end to this. Adienbo Nwadighi Macstephen, the Kulo XV of Emago-Kugbo Kingdom told BusinessDay last week that they have suffered terrible effects of oil spillage. The Kugbo Loading Bay, which was used by Shell D’Arcy to transport its first commercial crude oil from the Oloibiri Oilfield in 1958, has remained like that since then. The only access to the community, a 14.5km road was only sand-filled by Shell in 1958, and has remained so since then. By 1973, the largely fishing and farming community suffered its second spill. Other spills were in November 2008, December 2010 and only January this year. This year’s was caused by a leakage from Agip’s trunk line serving the Brass Trunk line. Sadly, Agip only came recently and clamped the defective pipeline valve; without doing anything about soil remediation.

The economic effect of the ongoing oil bunkering business cannot be quantified. Antigha, JTF media coordinator says it is an economic crime that does not affect government alone, but every member of the society.

Source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/analysis/features/20736-rising-illegal-bunkering-as-new-challenge-in-niger-delta

NUTSHELL:

Illegal Oil Bunkering is a crime; a crime which must be nipped in the bud with a sense of urgency. This phenomenon has coloured the perceived struggles by the Niger-Delta militants. Are they struggling to corner their own fair share of illegal bunkering or are they struggling to protect their communities from the scourge of BIG OIL POLLUTION?  One may also wonder; is there the existence of a vicious cycle of bunkering- where the only choice of survival and economic prosperity for the local community youth is to join either the militant gangs, kidnap foreign oil workers or join the bunkering boom. Whichever the case may be, regulation is definitely poor and porous while Government policy to empower the local communities is severely lacking. Let this be a lesson for Ghana, Uganda and as many emergent oil and gas communities. We should also hope that Nigeria sorts this mess out...; in the long run we are all dead- so the clarion call is for action NOW...!!!