By Clara Nwachukwu &  Uduma Kalu
LAGOS — Multinational oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, will appear before Dutch Parliament today to defend its environmental and human rights impacts on account of its activities in Nigeria, even as Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth International filed an official complaint against Shell for breaches of basic standards for responsible business set out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD.

Shell has said it stands by its 2009 data that about 98 per cent of the oil spills it experienced during the year in the Niger Delta were as a result of sabotage on account of militancy and oil theft.

Amnesty International, AI, and Friends of the Environment, FOE, however, believe that this declaration by Shell is “misleading” and the basis for dragging the Anglo Dutch oil giant before the OECD.

In a filing by the international non-governmental agencies in the U.K. and The Netherlands, Shell was accused of using “discredited and misleading information to blame the majority of oil pollution on saboteurs in its Niger Delta operations,”thereby breaching the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.”

The two Non-Governmental Organisations insisted that the misuse of data on the cause of oil spills, and the failure of Shell and the government to ensure fair and credible investigations were mere excuses by the company to perpetuate human rights abuses as well as denying justice and compensation to the affected communities.

However, reacting to the accusations on Tuesday in Lagos, Shell said: “We stand by these figures and publish them annually because we can back them up if necessary.”

In a statement entitled: “We categorically deny this allegation,” Shell, the oldest and biggest oil producer in Nigeria, argued that since 1996 it had instituted “a degree of transparency (in oil spill data) unmatched by any other operator in Nigeria.”

Refusing to provide the “back up” when Vanguard probed further, the company claimed: “We have stepped up the level of transparency this year with weekly updates of oil spill status that includes publishing Joint Investigation Visit reports and photographic evidence.

“Every oil spill is independently investigated by a joint inspection team comprising SPDC, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and community members whose scope includes the cause and volume.”

Shell lied
But AI and FOE countered that they have documented cases where Shell claimed the cause of a spill was sabotage, but the claim was subsequently questioned by other investigations or the courts.

The organisations cited a 2009 case, in which Shell was compelled to correct misleading information regarding the cause of oil spills. “After repeatedly claiming that 85 per cent of all oil spills in 2008 were caused by sabotage, it announced that the figure was closer to 50 per cent. Neither the claims of 85 per cent nor 50 per cent have been properly explained.”

In defence, Shell said: “The discrepancy between the originally reported figure for 2008 and the updated one was explained at length in our reporting exercise in early 2009 involving publication of the facts in briefing notes and on the web.”

We also deliberately drew attention to the change in face_to_face meetings with a number of interested organisations including AI and FOE at the time to ensure transparency.

“With regard to the spill in question was 44,000 barrels. It was not included originally because it had not been certified in time by the independent joint inspection team.  This is normal practice and every year there are a number of spills where the investigation process has not been completed by the reporting deadline and adjustments have to be made later. Where they are significant we ensure that we draw attention to them as we did in this case.”

Furthermore, the company reiterated, “More than 70% by volume and number of incidents over the past 5 years is due to sabotage, including militant action and oil theft (the term “sabotage” encompasses all these categories).This figure was 98% for 2009.”

But “Shell’s figures are totally lacking in credibility,” said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International’s Director of Global Issues.  “Widespread oil pollution is a key problem caused by oil industry in the Niger Delta, but the oil spill investigation system is totally lacking in independence.”

Independent reports also said, “In over half a century of Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta thousands of oil spills have left an appalling legacy of environmental harm. Water that people use for fishing and drinking is polluted with oil, while farm land and crops have been destroyed.”