Multinational Oil Corporations Research Articles

The role of local community in oil exploration in Lokichar basin, Turkana County, Kenya

Community participation in the management of livelihood resources is an important aspect that needs to be enhanced. In this way the local community not only owns the available resources but also invest them based on their real needs and not perceived needs. This study investigates the involvement of the local community in oil exploration as well as the working relationship between multinational oil corporations and host communities in Lokichar Basin, Turkana County. With the aid of the study objective, the mixed research design was adopted for the study. A sample size of 270 was adopted for this study and the study employed purposive sampling technique. Data collection procedures used was: Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and interview schedules. The study concludes that, development projects should not be introduced into host communities without the consent of the members of the host community. Hence, there should be participation of the members of the host communities to determine their own priority or projects needed.

Insights into corporate social responsibility disclosure among multinational corporations during host‐country political transformations: Evidence from the Libyan oil industry

AbstractThis study investigates the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the Libyan oil industry, particularly amidst significant political transformations within the host‐country (HSC). By examining these insights, we aim to shed light on how these corporations navigate and address CSRD considerations in a dynamic and politically evolving environment. To analyse these aspects, we employ various econometric models, including two‐stage least squares (2SLS) and propensity score matching (PSM). Our examination covers a dataset of 6000 data points representing 35 multinational oil corporations headquartered in 18 different home countries (HMCs) across five continents, spanning the years from 2008 to 2015. Our findings indicated that the level of institutional quality convergence between MNCs' HMCs and HSC significantly determines the extent of HSC‐related CSRD by MNCs. Additionally, the study emphasised that MNCs' internationalisation and business horizon within the HSC are critical factors influencing their CSRD in that country. The findings furthermore suggested that MNCs with a higher CSRD might exert an influence on the political decisions of their HMCs' governments concerning the political crisis in the HSC.

State-Corporate environmental crime and human security in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Admittedly, environmental crime or green criminology as sub-filed or a separate section of legal jurisprudence is struggling to evolve in Nigeria. This is particularly so in the light of lax legislation regulating the Nigeria oil industry. This paper advanced the argument that all human acts such as oil spills, gas flaring and other forms of environmental degradation in contravention of existing environmental legislation amount to environmental violence; and constitute environmental crime; which crime is increasing unabated in the Nigeria Delta region of Nigeria, with huge human security implications. The environment isthe life and sustainer of humanity, unfortunately man has become a destroyer instead of a protector and replenisher of the environment on account of the unsustainable drive for capital accumulation for industrialization and development. The outcomes of the activities associated with industrialization and development instead of ameliorating has rather deepened the poverty and misery of the Niger Delta. The acts of ecocide and genocide committed by the Multinational Oil Corporations with the tacit connivance Nigerian state had continuously threatened human security, without commensurable commitments to halting the impending Armageddon. The argument of this paper is guided by resource curse theory. Data were purely qualitative, and generated from secondary sources and subjected to content analysis. The fundamental finding of this paper is that the trouble with environmental governance in Nigeria is not the want of regulations, albeit weak but the weak extractive and regulatory capacity of the Nigeria state to enforce compliance. The paper recommends very strongly that the Nigerian state must assert its stateness, effectively perform its regulatory roles, and criminalize all acts of environment violations.

Evaluation of the Level of Variability of Niger Delta Community People’s Awareness and Knowledge of Chevron Regional Development Councils (RDCs) and Shell’s Cluster Development Boards (CDBs) Activities

The study's objectives were to evaluate the level of variability in community people's awareness and knowledge of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) Regional Development Councils (RDCs) and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Shell Cluster Development Boards (CDBs) and to determine whether the ascertained community people's awareness and knowledge have a significant impact on how well Multi-National Oil Corporations (MNOCs) development programmes are carried out in the host communities. Adopting the cross-sectional research design, the study surveyed 400 respondents from selected four states in the Niger Delta Oil Producing communities where RDCs and CDBs are operated. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means, and percentages were used to describe the socio-demographic information and the research questions. Inferential statistical tools like the One-Way Analysis of Variance and regression analysis had been used to take a look at the formulated hypotheses for the study. The findings indicate no relevant difference among community people in their state of awareness of the RDCs and CDBs but that the host community’s people poor involvement in the RDCs and CDBs resulted from inadequate requisite knowledge of the activities of MNOCs in their communities. The study recommended that every decision-making and taking process involve in project initiation, execution and implementation should involve the host communities in order to earn the people’s trust and respect.

OPERATIONALIZING THE THEORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES TO ASSESS SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY AND SURVIVAL OF COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA

This paper operationalizes the theory of environmental externalities to assess socio-ecological sustainability and the survival of coastal communities in Nigeria. It argues that petroleum exploitation activities of Multinational Oil Corporations (MNOCs)in the coastal and marine areas of the Niger Delta in Nigeria produce negative environmental externalities and impose them on the environment at the expense of the survival of the coastal communities as third parties. The paper adopts the library research technique for data collection, while the analyses were conducted in the realm of the theory of environmental externalities. In the end, the paper identifies the theory of environmental externalities as a veritable tool for demystifying the costs and benefits of petroleum exploitation in Nigeria. In the realm of the theory also, the paper was able to underscore the fact that the negative environmental externalities, which are outcomes of the petroleum exploitation activities in the coastal and marine areas of the Niger Delta in Nigeria to a large extent, negatively impact socio-ecological sustainability and the survival of coastal communities in the region. Consequently, the paper concludes that the negative spill-over effects of petroleum exploitation on the coastal and marine environment undermine socio-ecological sustainability and risk the survival of the coastal communities in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Therefore, it recommends that the MNOCs, and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), which are the benefiting parties of the petroleum industry in the country should be more liable and adequately, compensate the coastal communities for the spill-over effects of the petroleum exploitation activities in the region. In addition, vital ecological regions should be identified and mapped out as protected areas (PAs) to avoid overexploitation on one hand, and on the other hand, to conserve the natural ecosystem resources the coastal communities depend on for survival in Nigeria..

State-corporate environmental crime and human security in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

This theoretical paper advanced the argument that all human acts such as oil spills, gas flaring and other forms of environmental degradation in contravention of existing environmental legislation amount to environmental violence; and constitute environmental crime within the context of this paper. Environmental crime in the Nigeria Delta is increasing unabated and huge implication of human security. The environment is life and sustainer of humanity both present and future. But man has become a destroyer instead of a protector and replenisher of the environment on account of the unsustainable drive for capital accumulation for industrialization and development. The outcomes have deepened the poverty and misery of the Niger Delta people instead of ameliorating them. The acts of ecocide and genocide committed by the Multinational Oil Corporations with the tacit connivance Nigerian state had continuously threatened human security, without commensurable commitments to halting the impending Armageddon. The argument of this paper is guided by resource curse, Dutch disease and state failure theories. Data used to advance this argument are purely qualitative and generated from secondary sources. They are subjected to content analysis. Admittedly, environmental crime or green criminology as sub-filed or a separate section of legal jurisprudence is struggling to evolve. Our finding is that the trouble with environmental governance in Nigeria is not the want of regulations, albeit weak, but the problem of enforcement. This implies that the bulk stops at the state. The state must assert its stateness, effectively perform it s regulatory roles, and place environment violation where they belong, as environmental crime.

The Influence of Climate Litigation on Managing Climate Change Risks: The Pioneering Work of the Netherlands Courts

This paper analyses the way in which the responsibility for managing climate change risks is addressed by the Dutch courts in the Urgenda and Shell cases. A foundation called Urgenda initiated proceedings against the State of the Netherlands; followed by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) initiating proceedings against Shell, a multinational oil corporation with, at the time, its headquarters still in the Netherlands. This paper looks at both these examples of climate litigation, with a focus on what the courts had to say about responsibilities for managing climate change risks.

A Theoretical Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Ethics in Nigeria's Delta Swamplands

As a mono-product economy, Nigeria relies largely on oil revenues for its foreign exchange earnings. The Niger Delta region, which accounts for about 90% of the country's revenues, has remained the oil and gas producing hub, playing host to a number of oil Multinational Corporations (MNCs). However, from the empirical literature, oil exploration activities by Multinationals have left tales of environmental pollution and degradation, poverty, and misery in their wake, thus, creating corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in the region. This study adopted a theoretical research design and critically evaluated the role of ethics in Firms' response to CSR practice and disclosure in Nigeria. More importantly, the study highlights the imperative of developing a CSR ethical framework based on best practices guidelines that will motivate firms to demonstrate greater responsibility in their conduct towards the environment in which they operate. Furthermore, the paper, underpinned by two predominant CSR disclosure theories: institutional and stakeholder theories, explored the salience of CSR regulatory guidelines in achieving improved ethical conduct of firms. Finally, the paper offers an institutional policy direction that could assist governments in developing ethical guidelines to promote CSR practice and disclosure by firms in a developing country like Nigeria.

Multinational oil corporations, policy violation and environmental damage in rivers state of Nigeria: a theistic ethics approach

Achieving a sustainable environment is not unconnected with a pragmatic adherence to environmental policies in any given society. The continuous and expanding experience of environmental degradation and its attendant consequences on human and other lives in Rivers State of Nigeria still call for urgent attention for enduring solution. Yet, it seems that all efforts made toward resolving the problem have yielded very few positive results because the root cause of the problem(s) has not been given adequate attention. This study explored the organic connectedness between breaches (i.e., policy violation) of environmental regulations (as a major cause of the problem) and environmental chaos (as the consequence of the breach) in Rivers State of Nigeria, from the theistic ethics standpoint. To investigate the actuality of the connectedness of the breaches and the incessant environmental decadence in the study location, 30 copies of self-constructed, close-ended questionnaire were administered to a purposively selected sample of 30 Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) of the major oil business firms across the entire three Senatorial Districts of Rivers State. Out of the 30 administered questionnaire, 26 valid copies (86.7%) were retrieved and analysed, using frequencies, simple percentage counts, and regression analysis. A total of 88.5% of the CLOs confirmed that breaches in fundamental environmental policies were major causes of the environmental chaos and other associated problems in Rivers State, Nigeria. Also, pipeline vandalism, oil spillages, and oil theft typified breaches of theistic and other environmental regulations with ecological consequences. The F-test from the regression analysis shows that the value of F-calculated (6.633) is greater than F-tabulated (3.86) taking cognizant of the P-value of 0.01, which is lesser than 0.05 level of probability. This confirmed a significant relationship between contravention of law and ethical principles, and environmental degradation in Rivers State. Furthermore, the value of coefficient of correlation (r) is 0.126. This confirmed a positive relationship between violation of environmental policies (X) and environmental degradation (Y) in Rivers State. The paper concluded that adherence to the theistic and other environmental policies by oil firms in Rivers State could serve as respite to the environment.

When the Blessed Resource “Oil” Curses

Oil industry has impacted both economy and ecology of oil-producing states in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria. The environmental detriments caused by gas flaring and oil spills develop violent ethnic agitations, through long lasting history area of conflicts, for economic, social, political, and environmental rights. This paper examines the history of oil and gas exploitation, in Niger Delta region, and its role to cause environmental degradations in the region. The study argued that multinational oil corporations’ activities were the first intriguing violence in local communities based on environmental approach. Also, the paper indicates that the conflict had many drivers related to different components of indigenous people. The tendency of violence escalated over time, in strength of acts from demonstrations and grievances to militant operations, and demands from self determination to justice, revenues equity and environmental rights, in order to reshape oil-bearing communities’ old motivations about self-governance.

The Legal Framework of The Oil and Gas Industry In Iraq

The oil and gas industry is the backbone of the Iraqi economy and the primary source of government revenue. The Federal Government controls Iraq's oil and gas industry through the Ministry of Oil, responsible for policy formulation, regulation, exploration, production, marketing, and information disclosure. Except for a few refining enterprises, most national companies engaged in the oil and gas sector are wholly (100%) owned and overseen by the Ministry of Oil. In this research, national oil corporations are generally referred to as state-owned oil businesses. This article discusses the legal framework governing Iraq's oil and gas business, including the industry's constitutional provisions, investment rules, and the Draft Oil and Gas Law. Additionally, it briefly discusses the standard oil contract, which details the contractual relationships between state-owned and multinational oil corporations. Finally, the research examines the legal position of the Iraqi National Oil Company, which is tasked with the responsibility of succeeding nine state-owned oil businesses.

Artisanal refining of crude oil in the Niger Delta: A challenge to clean-up and remediation in Ogoniland

While the activities of multinational oil corporations contribute significantly to oil pollution and environmental degradation in most oil-producing countries, the extent to which illegal artisanal refineries contribute to the environmental problems in Niger Delta remains unclear. Extant literature attributes this to the expanding activities of the artisans as well as the use of crude technology in illegal oil refining. Given the widespread nature of the artisanal oil-refining economy in the Niger Delta region, we assess its contribution to the growing environmental pollution in the region. By artisanal oil refining, we mean small-scale crude oil processing or subsistent distillation of petroleum that is often outside the boundaries of the state law. This study links the continual failure of the clean-up programme in the Niger Delta to the booming artisanal crude oil-refining economy in the region. Using predominantly qualitative methods of data collection and content analysis, we adopted the enterprise value chain analysis to underscore the underlying local economic interests and external economic opportunities that sustain oil bunkering, oil theft and petro-piracy. We conclude that these illegal refining processes significantly undermine the Ogoniland clean-up project and make the remediation programme unsustainable in Nigeria.

Crude oil exploration in Africa: socio-economic implications, environmental impacts, and mitigation strategies.

Crude oil exploration is a source of significant revenue in Africa via trade and investment since its discovery in the mid-19th Century. Crude oil has bolstered the continent’s economy and improved the wellbeing of the citizenry. Historically, Africa has suffered from conflicts due to uneven redistribution of crude oil revenue and severe environmental pollution. Advancements in geophysical survey techniques, such as magnetic and gravity methods, to seismic methods, have made the commercial exploration of crude oil possible for some other countries in Africa apart from Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Libya, and Egypt. The occurrence of organic-rich, oil-prone Type I, II, and mixed II/III kerogens in sedimentary basins and entrapment within reservoir rocks with intrinsic petrophysical properties are majorly responsible for the large deposits of hydrocarbon in Africa. The unethical practices by some multinational oil corporations have resulted in social movements against them by host communities and human rights groups. The unscrupulous diversion of public funds, award of oil blocks, and production rights to certain individuals have impaired economic growth in Africa. The over-dependence on crude oil revenues has caused the economic recession in oil-producing countries due to plummeting oil prices and global pandemic. Most host communities of crude oil deposits suffer from a lack of infrastructure, arable soils, clean water, and their functioning capabilities are violated by crude oil exploratory activities, without adequate compensations and remedial actions taken by oil companies and the government. Thus, this review examines crude oil exploration in Africa and provides insight into the environmental and socio-economic implications of crude oil exploration in Africa. Furthermore, this report highlights some recommendations that may ensure ethical and sustainable practices toward minimizing negative impacts and improving the quality of life in affected communities.

Understanding Niger Delta’s violence from a World-Ecology perspective

The conflict in the Niger Delta region (Nigeria) has become one of the most environmentally and humanly devastating contexts on the African continent since the 1960s. The network of different actors involved in this context forms a complex web in which multiple and asymmetrical dynamics and interactions can be identified. From Jason Moore’s World-Ecology perspective (2015), the article suggests that this complex interaction should not be understood as a mere postcolonial episode in the context of globalisation, but as a historical network of relations. This network, in which human and extra-human natures are intertwined, is key to understanding the process of capital accumulation in the region and the resulting capitalogenic violence since the 16th century. Against this background, the article also attempts to counter the tendency to interpret violence and social resistance in the Niger Delta region as mere criminal phenomena or from narratives such as the “resource curse” that has simplified the multidimensionality of violence. In this sense, the paper analyses the different forms, strategies and meanings through which local resistance movements have tried to safeguard and re-appropriate their livelihoods and the commons in recent decades in the face of the growing presence of multinational oil corporations.

Despoliated Ecosystem and the Exploited Woman: Victims or Volunteers? A Reading of Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow

The horrendous situation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is gradually producing a rich and enduring literature, which paints a vivid picture of the trauma of living in that part of the world. Playwrights, poets, dramatists and literary critics have all lent their contributions in a determined effort at speaking up against the enormity of the environmental degradation in the region; a tragedy brought about by the insensitive exploitation of the region’s natural resources by multinational oil corporations. This study seeks to examine Kaine Agary’s perspective towards the problem as captured in her fictional work, Yellow-Yellow, with focus on the heavy toll it takes on the woman. The dilemma of being caught in the web of either a victim or a volunteer, compels the woman to either dependency or independence. Thus, the paper concludes by making a case for economic independence and argues that it is the surest security for women, especially, the Niger Delta woman.

Oil multinational corporations and national oil and gas companies of the East at the beginning of the XXI century: problems of interaction

Oil multinational corporations and national oil and gas companies of the East at the beginning of the XXI century: problems of interaction

Crafting Spaces of Value

This ethnographic investigation of the rise of the artisanal oil refining industry in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, shows how oil infrastructures have become contested between the state, multinational oil corporations and local youths in what I call a ‘new oil frontier’. I argue that artisanal refineries are indicative of the politics of crude oil governance and reveal complex, integrated and innovative forms of extractive practices by youth groups within many Niger Delta communities. Using the example of the Bodo community in Ogoniland, where local youths operate refineries constructed with local materials and technology, I show that such refineries represent an emergent form of energy capture that transforms the creeks of the Niger Delta into islands of carbon sale and challenges state and corporate power.

Oil and Gas Industry Contents Development Act 2010 (Local Content) Law and Challnges in Nigeria

Any policy, law or regulatory framework that adds value to the indigenous host country’s goods, services and human beings has in it the local or indigenous content. An examination of the Oil and Gas Contents Development Act 2010 in Nigeria will show significant progress made in the foray of the hitherto the dark horse – indigenous oil and gas companies into the elite oil and gas class previously `reserved` for the Multinational Oil and Gas Corporations. This was made possible by the emerging local content laws. However, a lifting of the veils of its actual performance, would reveal both latent and patent challenges facing the application of local contents laws particularly in Nigeria., This paper examines the operations of the Nigeran Oil and Gas Contents Development Act 2010, the challenges and possible recommendations on how to bring it in line with the best global practices. This paper found amongst others that infrastructural and capacity development are the power- base to driving effective local content application anywhere but are sadly lacking in Nigeria. It also found that the Nigerian version of the local contents law tilts towards protectionist regime rather than liberal approach and that a synergy of both frameworks is desired for the smooth operations of local content laws in Nigeria. This paper finally concludes that Nigeria can take a cue from other countries such as Norway and Brazil while considering the peculiarities of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Keywords Oil and Gas: Local contents law and Practices, challenges and recommendations DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/65-05 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Statement of retraction: The role of multinational oil corporations (MNOCs) in Nigeria: more exploitation equals less development of oil-rich Niger Delta region

This article refers to:RETRACTED ARTICLE: The role of multinational oil corporations (MNOCs) in Nigeria: more exploitation equals less development of oil-rich Niger Delta region

Environmental Protection in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry and Jonah Gbemre v. Shell PDC Nigeria Limited: Let the Plunder Continue?

The case of Jonah Gbemre v. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited made a historic deviation from the usual trend of seeking monetary compensation by host communities in oil-rich regions in Nigeria. Rather, it seeks to correct regulatory shortcomings which were upheld by the court but never enforced. This article argues that the failure to enforce the judgment of the court is a missed opportunity to strengthen the environmental regulatory framework in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It further argues that if the judgment had been enforced, it could have contributed to the reduction of the militant activities in the region and also encourages a significant change in the pattern of redress sought by litigants whose communities have been affected by the operations of oil multinational corporations in the region.