By John Donovan

Displayed below is a letter dated 16 October 2020 addressed to the Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. 

The letter is from attorneys representing specified Nigerian OML17 Host Communities and specified local government areas of Rivers State.

It contains extremely serious allegations against Shell, including systematic genocide and catastrophic damage to the environment. 

As can be seen, reasonable demands are made. 

I am aware that Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and Shell’s legal boss Donny Ching have copies of the letter. read more

US Firm Funding Nigeria Litigation Against Eni and Shell

Shell and Eni have been on trial in Milan since 2018.

by Bloomberg | William Clowes & Alberto Brambilla | Wednesday, October 14, 2020

(Bloomberg) — Eni SpA is seeking documents from a U.S. investment firm helping Nigeria sue it and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for more than $1 billion over an energy deal at the center of a criminal corruption trial.

Eni claims that “undisclosed interests” are driving the Nigerian government’s litigation strategy “at the expense of Eni’s contractual rights and the national interest of Nigeria.” The Italian oil company wants permission to subpoena information from the investment firm, Drumcliffe Partners LLC, to help its defense in the corruption trial in Milan, which Nigeria has joined as a civil party. read more

OPL 245, an offshore field awarded to the two oil companies in 2011, is the subject of multiple court cases worldwide, including a criminal case in Milan in which the Nigerian government alleges roughly $1.1 billion of payments from the companies was siphoned to politicians and middlemen.

Eni seeks World Bank arbitration in Nigeria oilfield dispute

By Stephen Jewkes, Libby George: OCTOBER 13, 2020

MILAN/LAGOS (Reuters) – Eni ENI.MI has filed a request for arbitration against Nigeria at the World Bank’s dispute settlement body and plans to argue that the country’s failure to allow it to exploit an oilfield it acquired with Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L nearly a decade ago breaches their investment agreement, court documents show.

OPL 245, an offshore field awarded to the two oil companies in 2011, is the subject of multiple court cases worldwide, including a criminal case in Milan in which the Nigerian government alleges roughly $1.1 billion of payments from the companies was siphoned to politicians and middlemen. Shell and Eni have denied any wrongdoing. read more

Covid-19 Is Big Oil’s Asteroid Strike

By Julian Lee | Bloomberg: Oct. 11, 2020 at 1:54 p.m. GMT+1

Covid-19 may do for Big Oil what the Chicxulub asteroid did for the dinosaurs when it struck Earth 66 million years ago.

BP Plc plans to cut 10,000 jobs, equivalent to 14% of its workforce; Shell will shed 9,000 workers, or 11%; and Chevron will reduce its payroll by 6,000, a 13% reduction. 

Much like the “terrible lizards,” Big Oil was already in decline before the novel coronavirus hit. The world in which they thrived is changing around them and they face multiple threats to their future health. But the outbreak’s impact has accelerated the process. read more

Nigerian farmers take on Shell in landmark oil spill case

OCT 9, 2020 10:15 AM PHT: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell faces a case over 3 spills which occurred in the 2000s around the southeastern Nigerian villages of Goi, Oruma, and Ikot Ada Udo

Lawyers for 4 Nigerian farmers accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday, October 8, of causing widespread pollution in a landmark court case filed in the Netherlands.

The farmers first filed suit in 2008, demanding Shell clean up devastating oil spills in 3 villages in the Niger Delta, prevent further pollution, and pay compensation. read more

Nigerian farmers take on Shell in landmark oil spill case

Lawyers for four Nigerian farmers accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday of causing widespread pollution in a landmark court case filed in the Netherlands.

The farmers first filed suit in 2008, demanding Shell clean up devastating oil spills in three villages in the Niger Delta, prevent further pollution and pay compensation.

Two of the farmers have since died, as Shell spent years arguing that the case, backed by Dutch environment group Milieudefensie, should not be heard in the Netherlands. read more

FINANCE UNCOVERED.ORG

The Evidence: Classified files shed light on JP Morgan role in ‘corrupt’ oil deal payout

by Margot Gibbs and Lionel Faull: October 1, 2020

Classified documents from Britain’s financial crime agency have revealed how it allowed JP Morgan to pay $875 million of suspicious funds to a Nigerian politician widely known as a convicted money launderer.

The documents, rarely seen Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), were filed by the banking giant’s London branch as it raised concerns about huge payments it was being asked to make by the Nigerian government to Dan Etete, the country’s former petroleum minister. read more

LARGEST CASE IN INDUSTRY’S HISTORY

Nigeria Eni/Shell corruption case: Future of Eni’s CEO at stake

By Christophe Le Bec
Posted on Thursday, 24 September 2020 18:22

The highly publicised corruption trial which alleges that oil majors Eni and Shell took part in an unlawful acquisition – that of the OPL 245 oil licence in Nigeria – entered its final phase on Monday, 21 September in Milan, with the defence presenting its case.

Key business and political figures were set to go before the Italian court in relation to a Nigerian business deal dating back to the early 2000s. The corruption case is one of the largest in the oil industry’s history. read more

Kiobel vs Shell: 4 Nigerian women take on the corporate machine

Wednesday, July 5th, 2017

TOMORROW, a Dutch court will hear witnesses and examine the merits of a landmark case brought by Esther Kiobel and three other women with regard to what they claim was Shell’s involvement in the unlawful arrest, torture and execution of their husbands by the Nigerian military.

This follows a hearing in October 2019, where four people have accused Shell of bribing witnesses to testify against the men during their trial in the 1990s. read more

Nigeria: ENI Kicks As Govt Demands U.S.$1.1 Billion Advance From Shell, Italian Giant in OPL 245 Case

10 SEPTEMBER 2020: This Day (Lagos)

By Ejiofor Alike

The Nigerian government yesterday asked a court in Milan, Italy, to order Royal Dutch Shell and Eni to pay the sum of $1.092 billion as an immediate advance payment for damages in the Malabu oil scandal, one of the oil industry’s biggest-ever corruption scandals.During the hearing of the corruption allegation linked to the acquisition of the Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 offshore field, lawyer to the federal government, asked for advance payment ahead of a more comprehensive damages package to be decided by the court at a later date. read more

Nigeria asks for $1.1 bln advance from Eni, Shell for damages in graft case

by Reuters: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 

MILAN, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Nigeria asked a Milan court on Wednesday to order Eni and Royal Dutch Shell to pay $1.092 billion as an immediate advance payment for damages in one of the oil industry’s biggest-ever corruption scandals.

At a hearing into alleged corruption around the 2011 acquisition by Eni and Shell of the OPL 245 offshore field, Lucio Lucia, lawyer for the Nigerian government, called for the advance payment ahead of a broader damages package to be set by the court at a later date. read more

Malabu: Canadian court dismisses Etete’s appeal over seized jet

SEPT 5, 2020

A court of appeal in Canada has thrown out an appeal by a former Nigerian Minister of Petroleum, Dauzia Etete, to recover his private jet which the federal government got impounded in that country.

Justice Robert Mainville during a virtual court hearing declared that Etete could not have the Bombardier Global 6000 jet back because he failed to challenge the allegations levelled at him by the Nigerian government. read more

Malabu Oil Deal: Canadian judge dismisses suit challenging Nigeria’s grounding of Etete’s jet

September 4, 2020: Oladeinde Olawoyin

A Canadian judge on Thursday dismissed an application seeking leave to appeal the judgement that confirmed the grounding of a luxury private jet purchased by a former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete, with some of the alleged proceeds of the controversial $1.3 billion Malabu OPL245 oil deal.

The suit was filed before the court by Tibit Limited, an anonymously owned company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), claiming ownership of the jet. read more

Ogoni and the Unforgettable History of State Brutality, By Fegalo Nsuke

21 August 2020

The Ogoni is daily in the news with reports of extra judicial killings, persecution, police repression, military torture and all sorts of human rights abuses. The conflict rages as the Nigerian oil industry seeks to adopt unsavoury measures to forcefully resume oil production in the area without the people’s consent.

The Ogoni people have become very familiar with the insincerity of the Nigerian oil industry, forcing a growing cynicism that continually creates distrust and conflict each time the Ogoni issue is mentioned. read more

EXCLUSIVE: Malabu Scandal: Canadian judge okays Nigeria’s seizure of Etete’s jet

August 7, 2020: Oladeinde Olawoyin

A Canadian judge has confirmed the seizure and grounding of a luxury private jet purchased by a former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete, with some of the alleged proceeds of the controversial $1.3 billion Malabu OPL 245 oil deal.

The judge, Martin Castonguay, ruled that the plane, which landed in Montreal on May 29, must remain there. He also agreed with the claims put forward by the attorney to the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the seizure and grounding of the plane. read more

By John Donovan

In the recent article (below”) about the OPL 245 corruption scandal, published under the translated headline “Eni-Nigeria trial, Prosecutor requests 8 Years sentence for Descalzi,” reference is made to “an axis of spies that runs through this story.”

It mentions the involvement of Shell’s MI6 hires responsible for generating the incriminating emails found in the raid and search of Shell’s HQ that has done so much damage to Shell’s reputation. read more