As we noted a couple weeks ago, the response to oil spills in the Niger Delta has received considerably less funding than the Deepwater Horizon Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, despite the fact that considerably more oil has spilled over the last 50 years, with no signs of letting up. Others have picked up on this comparison as well, including Josh Keating over at Foreign Policy, and the Center for Global Development's wonkcast. With the possibility the containment cap may hold until relief wells are finished in the next month, we wanted to update our numbers and take a new look at these two spills.
As you can see, up to this point, the volume of oil spilled in the Gulf still has not reached Niger Delta proportions. Spending on "the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs" has risen to $3.95 billion USD, according to a statement released today by BP. Of course, this number is certain to rise as efforts to protect coastal wetlands and cleanup the rest of the oil continue.
Meanwhile, half a world away from the Mississippi Delta, the oil keeps on leaking...