NATIONAL: We’re not aware of oil leaks allegation against our employees, SPDC tells DutchTV, Zembla

THE Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has debunked the reports making the rounds that it is aware that some of its staff members engage in pipeline vandalism.

The company stressed that no formal report of named staff members or contractors involved in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft or any other unethical behaviour has been brought to its notice.

This was contained in a statement issued by the company’s Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan.

The statement was issued against the background of a widely circulated report by a Dutch television, Zembla that employees of SPDC sponsor oil pipelines vandalism for their personal gain.

Zembla claimed the report was based on the findings of an investigation.

It added that the investigation, which took 18 months and looked at various leaks from 2010 till the present day, was done by a Dutch environmentalist organisation Milieudefensie, and that it (Zembla) verified its contents.

“According to sources, Shell employees profit from these intentional oil leaks by pocketing money from cleanup budgets,” the television station Zembla, which begins the airing of the investigative report on oil leaks in Nigeria, December 10, said in a release sent to many media outlets.

“It appears that Shell’s subsidiary SPDC is aware of these accusations but has done nothing about them. The Dutch embassy had knowledge of these accusations at the time as well, but hadn’t approached the company regarding the matter,” the release added.

But reacting to the damning report, SPDC said it has not received any formal reports concerning the findings of Zembla’s investigation.

SPDC noted that it has several ways the public can report allegation of wrongdoing by anyone connected to the company.

The statement read, “SPDC does not have any formal report of named SPDC staff members or contractors involved in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft

“SPDC, like other Shell companies globally, investigates all credible reports it receives of misconduct or unethical behaviour and takes robust action where evidence exists. SPDC has multiple ways the public can report allegations of wrongdoing by anyone working for SPDC, including a 24/7 telephone and email helpline.

“SPDC also monitors its joint venture facilities and any incident or suspected criminal activities are promptly reported to the regulators and government security agencies for investigation and possible prosecution.

“All spills are assessed by a government-led joint investigation team. Where sabotage is established, the clean-up contract is not awarded to contractors from the host community to ensure that possible accomplices do not benefit from such activities.

“SPDC cleans up and remediates areas impacted by spills that come from its operations, irrespective of cause of spill.”