Shell due to appear in court in the Netherlands over Niger Delta oil spills

In a case brought forward by a group of Nigerian farmers and the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, oil multinational Shell is charged with pollution after a series of oil spills in the Niger Delta. The case is historic as it is the first time a Dutch company faces charges for misconduct abroad.

The oil spills, located to the Ogoniland region of southern Nigeria, are by Shell claimed to have been caused by sabotage. Shell further argues that clean-up operations have been impossible due to the insecurity of the region. The farmers claims that the oil spills have originated from rusty pipelines, causing severe damage to fish farms and crops.

The UN concluded in a 2011 report that over half a century of oil operation in the region, by companies including Shell, had caused deeper damage to the Ogoniland area of the Niger Delta than had earlier been estimated.

Ugandan oil refinery plan upsets land owners amidst calls for compensation

Six years after a substantial oil find was made in Uganda, the plans for a refinery has been released by the Ugandan energy ministry. Refining crude oil on site could make Uganda self-sufficient in petrol, diesel and kerosene; which would be beneficial for national oil companies (however, certainly less so for international oil magnates).

The refinery map affects the district of Hoima, containing 13 villages with about 8000 inhabitants, all of which would have to be removed offsite, and compensated. However, the African Institute for Energy Governance argues that the refinery plans for eviction contains several flaws. For instance, the flow of information regarding the location and construction of both refinery and pipelines has been a trickle at best, which makes it difficult to assess the real impact of the refinery.

Moreover, construction of the refinery won’t begin until later this year, but already villagers are being told not to plant perennial plants on refinery land – thereby rendering it impossible to sustain themselves and their families way before the building even has begun.

7 fast facts about the African oil industry

1) The African continent is believed to contain about 10% of the world’s oil reserves

2) The largest oil producers in Africa are Angola, Nigeria, Libya and Algeria

3) Technological advances in deepwater drilling has made it possible to continue oil production despite threats of war/civil war onshore – with the added bonus that the oil can be transported by freight ships directly from the rigs to ports in Europe and the US

4) The Niger Delta, the most disputed and volatile oil region in the whole of Africa, comprises nine states and 185 local government areas. It is home to 27 million people, made up of 40 ethnic groups speaking 250 dialects. Here, the oil industry has drilled for decades, spending billions of dollars, while the vast majority of the population continues to live in squalor. Moreover, it has been estimated that 1,5 million tons of oil has been spilled into the Niger Delta over the last 50 years – that’s one Exxon Valdez disaster every twelve months!

5) The oil found offshore Africa is in industry terms called ‘light’ or ‘sweet’ (meaning viscous and low in sulfur) and is much easier to refine than crude oil from the Middle East. American and European refineries, obliged by strict environmental regulations, particularly prefer this kind of oil as it costs less to refine.

6) Between 1990 and 2010, the oil industry invested an estimated US$ 70 billion in exploration and production activity in Africa. American oil giant Chevron spends about 35% of its global exploration and production budget in Africa. However, only 5% of these billions are spent in Africa – investments are directed towards developing hardware and technology needed for (mostly) offshore drilling.

7) Until recently, no African country was member of the OPEC, meaning that they were not restricted by OPEC rules to keep oil prices high. Thus, more oil found in, say, Ghana equals cheaper oil for everyone.

 

Source: Ghazvinian, John. Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil, 2007

IANRA urges extractive sector in Tanzania to observe human rights as resources campaign is launched

In late March IANRA, the International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa, partnered with civil society organisations across its member countries to campaign for an increased respect for legislation and human rights surrounding the extractive industries. Slogan for the campaign is ‘Without just and effective laws, leave our resources alone!’ and activities including pickets protests at mine sites and workshops discussing possible relocations for villages affected by coal mining.

The campaign follows the release of a statement signed a number of civil society organisations in Tanzania, which urges the extractive sector to uphold the European Union’s proposed regulations on mandatory disclosure of extractives and logging.

Suspicions of corruption in DR Congo following revenue reports from 2008/2009

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently released its EITI report covering 2008 and 2009. EITI stands for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and is a global standard aiming ‘to make natural resources benefit all‘, through governance improvements in the extractive sector. Key issues are increased transparency and accountability across the industry, as the initiative embraces both companies and countries.

Participant countries are required to meet five criteria to become an EITI Candidate country; after which the country implements further requirements over the course of two and a half years to become a Compliant country. As such, the country undergoes validation by the EITI every five years. The DRC is expected to become a Compliant country in December 2012, by which time it is ‘required to have completed an EITI Validation that demonstrates compliance with the 2011 edition of the EITI Rules’.

The report reveals that total revenue from the oil and mining industry exceeded US$ 770 million during 2008/2009 (approx. US$ 550 million from oil and US$200 million from mining). However, severe discrepancies were noted between company and government disclosures, suggesting that amounts of up to US$70 million has gone missing. Such discrepancies are indeed alarming and reveals possible sources of corruption – but also functions as eye-openers to the weaknesses needed to be addressed. Moreover, it reveals the vital importance of the EITI’s work, as hopes are pinned that the next report from the DRC contains less discrepancies.

Uganda joins African oil-producing nations among fears of human rights abuse

In February of this year, following years of delay, the Ugandan government signed licenses with UK-based Tullow Oil. The deal, worth US$ 2.9 billion, allows Tullow to sell its Ugandan interests to the Chinese CNOOC and to the French Total, and has been heavily critised for lacking transparency. Late 2011, Ugandan legislators resolved that all oil contracts should be suspended until Parliament puts in place laws and institutions to ensure transparency in the industry. However, the deal with Tullow Oil was struck, which a government spokesperson explained by saying that “the Government is not bound by parliamentary resolutions, which are advisory”.

Lack of transparency into major deals between foreign companies and the government obviously makes it impossible for the public and civil society to gain insight into the details of the agreement. The company could therefore act as it sees fit, as long as it has been sanctioned by the deal (and, thus, the government). Exports of oil and minerals from Africa are worth billions of dollars – a significant wealth that could be utilised to lift countries out of poverty. However, history shows that corruption is rife among many of Africa’s oil-producing nations, and critics of Uganda’s deal with Tullow argues that the same is about to happen here. According to a report in The Namibian, sums in excess of US$300 000 paid in signature bonuses on oil contracts have already gone missing.

Electronics industry agrees to avoid conflict minerals

Reblogged from AFHRO:

As of April 1, a new standard has been introduced in the electronics industry, aiming to avoid using minerals from conflict zones. For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been ravaged by conflict for many years, supplies around 12.5-14 percent of the world's tantalum, used by the hi-tech industry. Tantalum, as well as cobolt, are often derived from areas prone to conflict, and the new standard is said to guarantee that they have not been used to finance any violence.

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Salad-growers in Spain live like slaves

Reblogged from AFHRO:

British daily The Guardian reported recently that African migrant workers are kept in slavery-like conditions in southern Spain. The workers spend their days harvesting salad, cucumber and other vegetables that are being shipped to supermarkets in the UK.

Watch this video to learn more. And think again next time you buy veggies grown in Spain!

Update: Trafigura fined 1 million Euro

Reblogged from AFHRO:

Four years after commodities trader Trafigura illegally dumped toxic waste in Côte d'Ivoire, causing illness and discomfort for tens of thousands people, the company was in July 2010 fined 1 million Euro by a Dutch court. The Ukrainian captain of the ship carrying the cargo, as well as a Trafigura employee were also convicted. The captain recieved a five-month suspended prison term, and the employee fined 25000 Euro and sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term. 

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Court rules Trafigura director can be prosecuted for toxic waste-scandal

An appeals court in Amsterdam has ruled that Trafigura director Claude Dauphin can be prosecuted for illegally dumping tons of toxic waste on the coast of Côte d’Ivoire. Mr. Dauphin co-founded petrol tanker company Trafigura in 1993 and has since been one of its directors, and is said to be the one responsible for the toxic waste-scandal in 2006. The vessel carrying the waste had been denied off-loading in an Amsterdam port and was subsequently redirected to Côte d’Ivoire, where it dumped its cargo onto waste dumps around Abidjan.

Ivorian investigators as well as a report by the UN has determined that at least 15 people died as a consequence of the illegal dumping, being affected by toxic fumes, and thousands of people were injured.

Representatives for Trafigura has consistently denied all links between the toxic waste and the deaths.