CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The oil and gas industry is truly global, with operations con¬ducted in every corner of the globe, from Alaska to Australia, from Peru to China, and in every habitat from Arctic to desert, from tropical rainforest to temperate woodland, from mangrove to offshore.
The global community will rely heavily on oil and gas supplies for the foreseeable future. World primary energy consumption in 1994 stood at nearly 8000 million tonnes of oil equivalents (BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 1995); oil and gas represented 63 per cent of world energy supply, with coal providing 27 per cent, nuclear energy 7 per cent and hydro-electric 3 per cent. The challenge is to meetworld energy demands, whilst minimizing adverse impact on the environment by conforming to current good practice.
The exploitation of oil and gas reserves has not always been without some ecological side effects. Oil spills, damaged land, accidents and fires, and incidents of air and water pollution have all been recorded at various times and places. In recent times the social impact of operations, espe¬cially in remote communities, has also attracted attention. The oil and gas industry has worked for a long time to meet the challenge of providing environmental protection. Much has already been achieved but the industry recognizes that even more can be accomplished.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992—'The Earth Summit'—focused world attention on the close links that exist between the environment and socio¬economic development. The Summit reviewed global envir¬onmental issues and resulted in two conventions (theFramework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity), as well as the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21—plan of action. The centralmessage of Agenda 21 is one of interdependence and cross- sector partnership, and the plan of action provided a new approach to the wide-ranging socio-economic and environ¬mental challenges facing the world community.
The broad environmental issues faced by the oil and gas exploration and production industry are manifested at both local and global levels. They include: habitat protection and biodiversity, air emissions, marine and freshwater discharges,incidents and oil spills, and soil and groundwater contami¬nation. The industry has responded to these issues. The chal¬lenge is to ensure that all operations conform to current good practice.
The continual evolution of the environmental agenda must also be taken into account. Industry places much emphasis on establishing effective management systems and has gone a long way to ensure that environmental issues are key components of corporate culture, with the issues related to health, safety and environment often being considered together, because they have much in common.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The Plant commenced operations with a total number of 1,376 staff, made up of 138 expatriates Technical Back-Up Services (TBS), and 1,246 Nigerian Staff.
However, in 1999 EPCL started a gradual phase-out of the TBS Personnel as most Nigerian staff gained adequate experience on the operation and maintenance of the Plants.
At 138 expatriate TBS Personnel the cost of about $2 million per month was abominable as it had negative impact on the cost of operations and cash flow for the Company. Today, the cost stands at about $0.64 million for 43 TBS Personnel.
Historically, the Eleme Petrochemicals Complex Project was started in the Project Engineering Division of the NNPC under Mr. S. A. Kufeji as the General Manager, championed by Dr. E. I.Onyia, as Manager Petrochemicals.
In early 1982, the Petrochemicals Division of the NNPC was created, with Mr. 0. 0. Lolomari as the General Manager, while Dr. E. I. Onyia continued his lead push for the petrochemicals programme. Later that year, NNPC signed the Consultancy Agreement with Foster Wheeler International Corporation of Reading, UK.
Following a major re-organization of NNPC in October 1985, Dr.T. M. John was appointed the co-ordinator of the Petrochemical Sector. During another restructuring of the NNPC in 1988, Dr. T. M. John became the first Managing Director of Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited (EPCL).