Abstract
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This paper examines environmental narrative disclosures from a multinational
corporation, Royal/Dutch Shell pIc, (thereafter Shell), of oil spills in Nigeria. Shell's oil
spill disclosure in Nigeria includes voluntary social and environmental reports. Shell has
been operating in Nigeria for over fifty years and the majority of its reported oil spills
occur in Niger Delta. While these oil spills are considered 'external' phenomena, Shell
encompasses both accidental and intentional oil spills within their public discourse. As
such, the organisation is in a position to influence discourse of 'controllable' and
'uncontrollable' oil spills in relation to its operations in Nigeria. In other words, Shell
interprets the nature and subsequent responsibility for what is considered an
'environmental disaster'. The bOlmdary of responsibility and the subtle and nuanced
meaning of controllable and uncontrollable is contestable. Accordingly, uncontrollable
oil spills are described as the outcome of sabotage and account for 98% of reported oil
spills. The results of this study illustrate that Shell is in a position to dominate, enter and
shape the discourse of oil spills via corporate public discourse.