Thousands of barrels of oil spouted out of the broken pipeline at Bodo for 10 weeks before Shell finally clamped it on 7 November 2008. © CEHRD

Pastor Christian Kpandei contemplates the damage done to his fish farm in Bodo, Nigeria, May 2011. The farm flourished before the August 2008 oil spill, but the pollution destroyed his fish farm, leaving him and his workers without a regular income. © Amnesty International

3.2.1 FOUR FARMERS’ CASES

The first of the pollution-related cases marked the first time that any Dutch company had been sued in the Dutch court for the operations of its subsidiaries overseas.

In 2008, four Nigerian farmers (Eric Barizaa Dooh, Fidelis Ayoro Oguru, Alali Efanga and Friday Alfred Akpan), along with Milieudefensie, the Dutch section of Friends of the Earth, filed claims against RDS and SPDC.44

They are seeking to obtain compensation for alleged damage to fish ponds and land caused by oil spills from two underground pipelines and an oil well operated by Shell in the villages of Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma between 2004 and 2007.45 read more

MESSAGE FROM GLOBAL WITNESS REGARDING SHELL/ENI OPL 245 CORRUPTION CASE

An online event this Friday

On Friday, Global Witness is hosting a virtual event, The Oil Heist of the Century: Journey around the world in search for truth and accountability, as part of the Skoll World Forum alongside our partners Olanrewaju Suraju the Chair of the Nigerian NGO Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and Antonio Tricarico a Director of Italian NGO Re:Common.

The event will take place on Friday 3^rd April at 4pm BST, 5pm CET, 4pm WAT.

We will tell the story of infamous Shell and Eni corruption case that Global Witness and partners has been investigating and exposing for many years. It will take you on a journey around the world from an oil field in Nigeria via London and Abuja to a courthouse in Milan. read more

Oil pollution in Kegbara-Dere (K-Dere) community in Ogoniland, Rivers State, Niger Delta, Nigeria. This community has experienced multiple oil spills since Shell started operations there in the 1960s. September 2015. © Michael Uwemedimo/cmapping.net

Shell’s pipelines in Ogoniland are old and poorly maintained. There have been several spills and in 2009 there was a huge fire, at the Bomu Manifold, at K. Dere, Rivers state. September 2015. © Michael Uwemedimo/cmapping.net

Dead periwinkles covered in oily mud from Bodo creek, Nigeria, May 2011. There were two massives spills in August 2009 from a poorly maintained Shell pipeline. © Amnesty International

Signboard warning people not to enter stream that has been contaminated by oil spills, Ogale, Rivers State, Nigeria. Every year there are hundreds of spills in the Niger Delta, and clean-up is often slow and ineffective. © Amnesty International

3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL CASES (Pages 16, 17, 18 & 10)

There are three separate legal proceedings taking place against Shell in Dutch and British courts relating to oil pollution. This has devastated the Niger Delta.

Data from Shell’s own spill incident reports reveal that from 2011-18 the company reported a huge number of spills – 1,010 – along the network of pipelines and wells that it operates.25 Spills have a variety of causes – from third-party tampering, to operational faults and corrosion of aged facilities. Shell blames most spills on theft and pipeline sabotage, and are not due to its own negligence.26 read more

Esther Kiobel and Victoria Bera sit with their lawyer as a Dutch court hears the first arguments in an historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, on February 12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands. © Pierre Crom/Getty Images

 KIOBEL AND OTHERS V SHELL

Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta were first, and most effectively, put under the spotlight in the 1990s by Ken Saro-Wiwa, an acclaimed Nigerian writer. Saro-Wiwa led a community organisation in his home area, Ogoniland, called the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). MOSOP said that while outsiders had grown rich on the oil that was pumped from under their soil, pollution from oil spills and gas flaring had, “led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning our homeland into an ecological disaster.”10 read more

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.4

Its industry is based in the Niger Delta, in the south of the country, where Shell first found oil in commercially viable quantities near the village of Oloibori in 1956, when Nigeria was still a British colony.5

The Niger Delta has since become Africa’s most valuable oil-producing region.

The industry is run by joint ventures between the Nigerian government and multinational companies. Shell has always been the most important of these. Shell runs its oil operations in Nigeria through its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). It is a major shareholder and the operator of the country’s largest joint venture, which produces almost 40 percent of Nigeria’s oil.6 read more

The Nigerian government on Monday lost a bid to postpone a massive claim against oil giants, Eni and Shell, in a London court.

Royal Dutch Shell and Eni’s bid to block a $1.1 billion civil claim over corruption allegations in Nigeria will go ahead next month, Mark Pelling, a judge in a London court ruled on Monday.

The court ruled that it should not wait for a connected Italian ruling.

Nigeria wanted the April court date postponed until January 2021, when a connected criminal case in Milan will have concluded. read more

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020

Shell E&P purges contempt in Erris land proceedings

Shell E&P Ireland – the former operator of the Corrib Gas project – has been deemed to have purged its contempt of a district court order.

Civil proceedings initiated by Monica Muller, Rossport South, North Mayo against Shell E&P Ire­ land Ltd. Corrib House. 52 Lower Leeson St. Dublin 2 were concluded in Ballina District Court last Fri­day when Judge Fiona Lydon found, in accordance with a Su­preme Court ruling, that the de­fendant company had been in contempt of a court order when it entered commonage lands at Ros­sport and Muingnabo without notification in 2007 and 2008. read more

Cover photo: A Dutch court hears the first arguments in an historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, on February 12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands. © Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.

Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations.

Since Shell first discovered oil near the village of Oloibiri in 1956, the Niger Delta has become Africa’s most valuable oil-producing region and the Anglo-Dutch giant has earned billions of dollars. read more

Spills in Nigeria for Shell increased to 2,000 tonnes in 2019, from 157 incidents, the company has disclosed in its annual report, up from 1,600 tonnes from 111 incidents in 2018.

by Ed Reed: 12/03/2020, 10:50 am

These are predominantly a result of sabotage, the company said. Of the 164 spills of more than 100 kg of crude, 95% were the result of “illegal activities by third parties”. Flaring also increased in 2019 in Nigeria, by around 10%.

The number of spills caused as a result of its own operational issues fell to seven incidents, from 15 in 2018. This saw the volume of crude spilled fall to around 30 tonnes of crude, from 400 tonnes in 2018. Where there have been operational spills, SPDC pays compensation to people and communities. read more

As political and economic tides shift, pressure on Shell—from shareholders, evolving new technologies, and climate-aware consumers—to reinvent itself is mounting, while legal action has been taken against the company over its climate impacts.

Shell’s own research warned more than a quarter-century ago that burning fossil fuels posed catastrophic threats, yet it continued to pump billions into climate-disrupting ventures.

Shell has come under fire for its fierce campaigns against climate action. According to reports, it is among oil firms that spend millions a year lobbying to block or influence climate policies. read more

Malabu Scandal: Italian judge orders prosecution of Nigerian businessman

February 24, 2020: Halimah Yahaya

An Italian judge has ordered a controversial businessman, Aliyu Abubakar, to stand trial, for his role in the Malabu OPL 245 scandal.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the Milan prosecutors alleged that Mr Abubakar played a major role in one of the oil industry’s biggest scandal in years.

The controversial businessman, through his companies, received over half of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni for OPL 245. He also allegedly gave out more than $500 million in cash to powerful Nigerian government officials. read more

UPDATE 1-Groningen gas output fall to prevent earthquake risk ahead of target

FEBRUARY 21, 2020 

* By mid 2022 no need for production in average year

* Groningen was once Europe’s largest onshore gas field 

AMSTERDAM, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Gas production at Groningen in the northern Netherlands can be lowered to 10 billion cubic metres (BCM) this year, the government said on Friday, beating an initial 2020 target to cut output at the field because of earthquake risk.

The Dutch government has said it would lower production at Groningen, once Europe’s largest onshore gas field, as quickly as possible after a series of tremors caused widespread damage to homes and buildings. read more

MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) – An Italian judge has ordered a Nigerian businessman to stand trial for alleged international corruption relating to a Nigeria oil graft case involving Eni and Shell, a judicial source and his lawyer said on Wednesday. Milan prosecutors allege that Alhai Aliyu Abubakar played a central role in one of the oil industry’s biggest scandals in years, handing out more than $500 million in cash to powerful Nigerian government officials.

The money is alleged to come out of the $1.3 billion licence fee paid by Eni and Shell for access to the OPL-245 offshore oilfield located in the southern Niger Delta. read more

Global Investigations Review

Dutch bar unfazed by justice minister’s “unusual” contact with Shell prosecutors

By James Thomas: 18 February 2020

Dutch lawyers seem relaxed about recent revelations that the local justice minister and public prosecutors have been in frequent contact about a bribery investigation into Shell.

FULL ARTICLE (PAYWALL)

Lawyers question judge’s peculiar ruling in Shell privilege case

By James Thomas: 30 October 2019

Legal experts in the Netherlands have said that a recent privilege ruling against Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell will likely not stand up in an appeals court.

FULL ARTICLE (PAYWALL)

Shell’s in-house lawyers not covered by privilege, court rules

By James Thomas: 25 October 2019

A Rotterdam court has ruled that Shell’s in-house lawyers are insufficiently independent from the company and cannot claim legal privilege, in a decision connected to a Dutch investigation into alleged bribery by Shell in Nigeria. read more

FEBRUARY 17, 2020 / 9:28 PM

YENAGOA, Nigeria, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s state oil company and its joint venture partners have spent $360 million on cleaning up the Niger Delta oil heartland in the past two years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Monday, but locals said little work had been done.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest crude oil exporter. Oil sales account for around 90% of its foreign currency earnings but oil spills in the southern Niger Delta region have caused pollution and angered locals. read more

In 2020 Shell will face unprecedented legal scrutiny over decades of human rights abuses in Nigeria, Amnesty International said today, as the oil giant braces itself for conclusions in a string of European court battles. Allegations range from complicity in unlawful executions to systemic pollution and environmental damage in the Niger Delta.

(RELATED: Investigate Shell for complicity in murder, rape and torture)

Amnesty International has been researching Shell’s activities in the Niger Delta for more than 20 years, compiling compelling evidence of the company’s role in human rights abuses. In a report released today, the organization highlights the various cases that are finally putting Shell’s harmful operations in Nigeria on trial. read more