Oil major, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has said it has so far reported 51 leaks from its oil production activities in the Niger Delta in 2021.
The company made the disclosure, according to data obtained from its spills incident Portal yesterday.
According to the nation report, SPDC management indicated that 44 of such spill incidents were traced to sabotage by vandals while seven of the reported leaks were caused by operational factors.
It said in May, eight spills discharged 253.07 barrels of SPDC’s Bonny Light crude blend into the environment, noting that, of the eight spills recorded, six were caused by sabotage while two were as a result of operational factors.
The data showed that operational spills accounted for 6.07 barrels of the 253.07 barrels while sabotage was responsible for 247 barrels loss.
It also indicated that in 2020, a total of 159 spills were reported with sabotage being responsible for 140 of the spills while operational factors caused 19 of the incidents.
The data said although more spills, totalling 190 were reported in 2019, a similar pattern was observed, with sabotage being responsible for 183 spills and operational issues caused seven leaks.