Shell has said the volume of crude oil spills caused by sabotage in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta more than doubled to 3,300 tonnes last year, a level last seen in 2016.
While the volume of spills rose, the number of major spills fell to 106 in 2021 from 122 incidents the previous year, Shell said in its sustainability report. It said in 2020, oil spills in Nigeria stood at 1,500 tonnes.
On the other hand, Shell said, it has paid $6 billion as tax to the Federal Government in the last six years through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Shell is the operator of Nigeria’s main onshore oil and gas joint venture SPDC which has struggled for years to contain spills in the Delta caused due to operational incidents, theft and sabotage.
A Nigerian court last month stopped Shell from selling any assets in Nigeria until a decision is reached on the company’s appeal of a nearly $2 billion penalty for alleged oil spill.
With payment of $6 billion in direct taxes in the five years the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS has named Shell as a “leading tax compliant organisation in Nigeria for 2021.”
At an award ceremony in Abuja last week as part of the second annual National Tax Dialogue, Shell companies in Nigeria also won the award for ‘remarkable performance in the remittance of various taxes’ in the same year.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) and Shell Nigeria Gas paid a combined $6 billion in direct taxes between 2015 and 2020 to the government.
The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Mamman Nami, noted that Shell companies demonstrated commitment to paying all government taxes hence the two awards.
Managing Director, SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said he was happy that government partners and stakeholders recognised Shell’s significant contributions to the revenue of Nigeria by which the government is able to grow the economy and bring about developments to every part of the country.
