In an open letter on the oil spills dating back to 2008 in the Nigerian Delta, the Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has admitted fault but blamed the media for creating a bad impression.

Mutiu Sunmonu said: “SPDC has always acknowledged that the two spills in the Bodo area in 2008, which are the focus of extensive media reports today, were caused by such operational failure.

“It is unfortunate that some inaccurate reporting has created the impression that SPDC in particular and oil companies in general are responsible for all oil spills in Nigeria. The two spills at issue here resulted in around 4,000 barrels of oil being spilt. It is regrettable that any oil is spilt anywhere, but it is wildly inaccurate to suggest that those two spills represent anything like the scale which some reports refer to.”

Amnesty International have claimed that 13 billion barrels have been spilt in the delta.