Spill Notification Point

Competent National Authority

Response Arrangements

A national oil spill contingency plan was prepared in 2003 and officially endorsed in 2005.  The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), part of Nigeriathe Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, was established as the institutional framework for the implementation of the NOSCP.

NOSDRA receives reports of oil spillages and coordinates oil spill response activities throughout Nigeria.

In the event of a spill, NOSDRA may call upon Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA), an oil spill cooperative, to assist in the response.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is the regulatory authority responsible for shipping.  Amongst other things, it provides air and coastal surveillance and receives and removes wrecks.

Each operating oil company is required by law to possess a contingency plan for the prevention, control and removal of spilled oil from its own facilities.  In addition, CNA can be called upon by members when faced with spills beyond the capability of their own resources (usually above 2,000 barrels). 

Response Policy

It is understood that containment and recovery are the first response options. Dispersants are only permitted offshore. A list of accepted dispersants has been drawn up.

The preferred means of disposal of spilt oil in Nigeria is through separation and recycling of recovered oil. When this is not possible, controlled burning at an approved incineration site near Port Harcourt is a second option. The third, and usually final, option is burial.

Access to certain areas of the country is difficult particularly in and around the Niger River Delta. During past incidents spill response teams have also often been prevented from carrying out any remedial work by local communities.

Equipment

Government & Private

In general, Nigeria relies on oil pollution clean-up resources provided by the oil industry and very little is maintained in government hands.

By law each oil industry operator must possess a minimum stockpile of spill control resources in order to respond to spills from their own facilities. In addition, CNA owns a considerable amount of heavy-duty clean-up equipment permanently manned by trained personnel. Operational centres and equipment stores for these resources are located at Calabar, Kaduna, Onne and Warri.

Previous Spill Experience

Nigeria has experienced numerous spills from pipelines, terminals and oil platforms. The FUNIWA-5 (1980) oil well blow-out involved the release of over 54,000 tonnes of crude oil which caused extensive damage to mangroves. 14,300 tonnes was spilt from a ruptured pipeline operated by Mobil (1998) and 2,900 tonnes from a Shell pumping station at Warri (1998)

Compensation

* not yet in force

Regional & Bilateral Agreements

• Abidjan Convention (with states of the West and Central African Region).

Date of issue: December 2010