Business
Muted response to Nigeria oil spill: A case of double standards?
(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian oil spill, the largest in the African nation since 1998, highlights the different world responses to oil spills.
Nigerian authorities on Thursday put emergency measures in place to prevent the spill of less than 40,000 barrels from the Shell facility, the biggest leak in Nigeria for more than 13 years, washing up on its coast.
The spill is small compared to last year’s much documented rupture of BP’s Macondo well off the United States but critics say the fact it happened in Nigeria means little attention has been paid to it.
In comparison, BP’s Macondo disaster spilled nearly 5 million barrels in the Gulf of Mexico, sparked criticism of the company by politicians, a media frenzy and wiped billions off its market value.
“There are double standards operating. With the Deepwater Horizon spill last year there was a massive amount of interest,” said Paul Horsman, a spokesman for Greenpeace, the environmental group. “The reality is, where ever the oil industry operates, it creates havoc.”
Shell’s shares briefly declined on Wednesday when news of the spill from the Bonga oilfield 120 kilometres off Nigeria’s coast emerged, but have since risen as investors saw little reputational risk for Shell.
An oil analyst at a bank said Shell’s latest Nigerian spill was unlikely to have much of an impact on the company.
“They are cleaning it up and the authorities seem very supportive of what’s happening,” he said. “This is not the worst incident.”
