Make Big Oil Pay
Artisanal oil refining: This is the small-scale crude oil processing or subsistent distillation of petroleum that is often outside the boundaries of the state law.
Barrel: Barrel is a common measure of volume used in the oil industry, for both crude oil and refined products. A barrel is equal to 42 US gallons.
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR): Now the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, it is a department under the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. It monitors the oil and gas industry to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and laws.
Divestment: Divestment is the process of selling subsidiary assets, investments, or divisions. In the context of this report divestment refers to the process of IOCs selling off business interests in Nigeria, often to local companies.
Effluent Waste Disposal: Effluent is any liquid waste, other than surface water and domestic sewage that is discharged from premises being used for a business, trade or industrial process. Trade effluent may be waste water contaminated with materials such as: fats, oils and greases; chemicals; detergents; heavy metal rinses; solids; and food waste.
EGASPIN: Environmental guidelines and standards for the petroleum industries in Nigeria.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): The process of identifying the future consequences of a current or proposed action.
Gas Flaring: The burning of unwanted gas through a pipe (also called a flare). Flaring is a means of disposal used when there is no way to transport the gas to market and the operator cannot use the gas for another purpose. Flaring generally is not allowed because of the high value of gas and environmental concerns.
Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU): An agreement between an IOC and a group of communities identified based on local government area, ethnicity and historical affinities. The terms of the agreement define the amount of funding and community development projects to be provided over a defined time period to the benefiting communities.
Hydrocarbon: Hydrocarbons are any substances made up of carbon and hydrogen. This includes crude oil and all petroleum products, as well as natural gas and coal.
International Oil and Gas Company (IOC): A large publicly traded oil and gas producer. Integrated oil companies operate across the entire petroleum value chain from oil exploration and production (upstream) to transport, refining, and marketing (downstream).
Joint Investigation Team (JIT): A JIT is formed when an oil spill occurs and includes representatives of regulatory agencies, the oil company, and the local community.
Joint Investigation Visit (JIV): A JIV is part of an oil spill investigation process whereby when an oil spill occurs, a joint investigation team (JIT) is mobilised to visit the spill site. The JIT includes representatives of regulatory agencies, the oil company, and the local community. JIV forms, which are to be signed by the JIT, capture data on the cause of the spill, the volume spilt and the area affected.
Joint Venture (JV): A joint venture is a commercial arrangement between two or more parties that agree to co-operate on a project or service.
Liquified Natural Gas (LNG): Natural gas, mainly methane and ethane, which has been liquefied at cryogenic temperatures. This process occurs at an extremely low temperature and a pressure near the atmospheric pressure. When a gas pipeline is not available to transport gas to a marketplace, such as in a jungle or certain remote regions offshore, the gas may be chilled and converted to liquefied natural gas (a liquid) to transport and sell it.
Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG): Gas mainly composed of propane and butane, which has been liquefied at low temperatures and moderate pressures. The gas is obtainable from refinery gases or after the cracking process of crude oil. Liquefied petroleum gas is also called bottle gas. At atmospheric pressure, it is easily converted into gas and can be used industrially or domestically.
Local Government Area (LGA): Nigeria has 774 local government areas (LGAs), each administered by a local government council consisting of a chairman and councillors. The local authorities are responsible for delivery of services such as public health; pre-school, primary and adult education; town planning; waste disposal; local transport; and roads.
Ministry of Environment (MoE): The MoE is a Federal Ministry which exists to ensure environmental protection, natural resources conservation and sustainable development.
National Oil Company (NOC): NOCs are oil companies owned and operated by the government of the country they are in. Many large oil-producing countries have NOCs that control most or all of the oil industry activities in their domestic markets.
National Oil Spill and Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA): The Agency responsible for ensuring preparedness, detection and responses to spillages in Nigeria and companies’ compliance with relevant legislation.
Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEIT): The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) is the national chapter of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) mandated by law to promote transparency and accountability in the management of Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining revenues.
Oil Mining Licence (OML): A licence allowing full-scale commercial production in a lease area. It is granted to oil prospecting licence holders on the discovery of oil in commercial quantities (at least 10,000 barrels per day). It grants the lessee an exclusive right to prospect, explore, produce and undertake marketing activities in connection with the specified acreage for a period of 20 years. An oil mining lease may be renewed subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.
Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL): An exclusive licence granted for any period determined by the Minister of Petroleum Resources of up to five years for onshore areas and shallow waters and up to 10 years for deep offshore and inland basins. The oil prospecting licence permits the licensee to conduct more extensive exploration activities and remove and dispose of petroleum discovered while prospecting.
Oil spill: An oil spill is oil, discharged accidentally or intentionally, that floats on the surface of water bodies as a discrete mass and is carried by the wind, currents and tides. Oil spills can be partially controlled by chemical dispersion, combustion, mechanical containment and adsorption. They have destructive effects on coastal ecosystems.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): An intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): A permanent intergovernmental organisation of 13 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
Particulate Matter: Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Some particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter can get deep into your lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream. Of these, particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, also known as fine particles or PM2.5, pose the greatest risk to health.
Remediation: Remediation of a contaminated site as a result of an industrial incident is a corrective measure to mitigate or eliminate the pollution.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Compounds that have a high vapour pressure and low water solubility. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants. VOCs are common ground-water contaminants. VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. They include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.
PAH - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: (PAHs) are a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline. They result from burning coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, and tobacco. PAHs can bind to or form small particles in the air.
