Shell reports oil spill in Port Harcourt community

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has reported a fresh oil spill at its facility in Ogale, near Port Harcourt in Rivers state.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that according to Shell, the spill happened when a storage pit (called a saver pit) overflowed during cleaning operations in the Niger Delta region. Shell says its emergency response team contained the overflow and notified the authorities. The company added that “arrangements were being made for a regulator-led joint visit to determine the cause and impact of the spill”.

A local environmental group, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), provided additional details. They explained that the spill occurred when an underground pit containing crude oil began flowing into a pipeline. This pipeline separates an area that’s part of the ongoing Ogoni cleanup project.

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This isn’t the only recent spill involving Shell. On 14 December 2024, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) reported another oil spill at Shell’s loading terminal (SMI) in Bonny, Rivers. In that case, NIMASA said Shell acted quickly by shutting down the affected pipeline and using special barriers (called “containment booms”) to protect nearby communities.

Earlier that year, on 14 August 2024, another spill occurred at a Shell facility in the Imiringi community, Bayelsa state. Shell attributed this incident to oil theft.