THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
JUNE 16, 2010
By Benoit Faucon
BPs technical mishaps in the deep waters of the Gulf Mexico have transfixed global opinion and inspired embarrassment for both a U.S. president and a British Prime minister. Yet, in the remote wetlands of Nigerias Niger Delta, far from the eyes of the Western public, equipment failure can also cause severe heartburn.
- The fire and smoke plume from the Trans-Niger pipeline in the Niger Delta, April 2009.
In April last year, a leak on the Trans-Niger pipeline caused a huge column of fire, forcing the operator, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, to shut down at least 150,000 barrels a day of production.
At the time, Shell said it didnt know the cause of the fire, as we reported.
Now, one year later, it has been forced to come clean after an internal document surfaced. The giant fire was due to rusty, damaged and [leaking] pipes, according to a report by the contractor in charge of the facility.
After 15 minutes of vehement smoky [oil] spills suddenly burst into flames and it took eleven hours to put out the fire, he wrote.
With the report now out, Shell has finally acknowledged, in an official email to Dow Jones Newswires, that the accident was due to an unfortunate result of equipment failure. Even more surprising, it admits oil recovery and initial cleanup of affected sites were only completed last month.
The company insists that almost 98% of the spills volume at its Nigeria facilities is due to sabotage and theft. But one can wonder if this measure reflects the real impact of its operational issues.
For one, the technical fault led to the shutdown of at least 10% of Nigerias production for over two weeks. At $50 a barrel at the time, that means the unit lost at least $135 million simply because a rusty, leaky pipe was left unrepaired.
And though much of the oil may have burnt instead of flowing, the impact of the fumes cannot be overlooked. Burning crude generates emissions that in turn induce respiratory diseases in humans and acid rains which are damaging for agriculture.
Shells reportconducted jointly with the authoritiessays the oil spread into neighboring crops. Unlike in the Gulf of Mexico, incidents in Nigeria start right in peoples backyard.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
