Posts under ‘Nigeria’

Nigerian Supreme Court Upholds Oil Spill Award Against Shell

Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: Last Updated Nov 30, 2020

Shell, the largest oil producer in Nigeria, have been beset by lawsuits involving the West African nation, many of them in courts in the Hague and the U.K.

EXTRACTS

Nigeria’s Supreme Court dismissed an application by Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit to review a $467-million award for damages caused by an oil spill half a century ago. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour led a five-member panel of the court Friday that unanimously dismissed Shell’s bid for lacking merit. read more

OPL245 Scandal: Coalition urges World Bank group not to protect oil giants

…prosecutions relating to the OPL 245 deal are live in two jurisdictions (Nigeria and Italy); Investigations are also live in The Netherlands, where the prosecutors have told Royal Dutch Shell, which was also a party to the deal that they have sufficient evidence to prosecute. 

By Press Release: November 22, 2020

A World Bank affiliated group may scuttle Nigeria’s bid to successfully prosecute illicit funds associated with the controversial OPL 245, a coalition of international anti-corruption groups has said. read more

Shell has tried to shed its image of corporate killer like a snake would its skin.

Dear Shell: After 25 Years, Are You Finally Ready to Accept Your Role in the Murder of Ogoni 9?

The Ogoni 9 — Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine — were murdered 25 years ago for their campaign against Shell. Photo by Martin LeSanto-Smith.

The fossil fuel giant could have tried to right its wrongs, grave as they were. Instead, it has chosen profit over people, indifference over action. This article originally appeared in OilChange International. ANDY ROWELL: November 12, 2020

And so another grim, painful milestone is reached. It is now a quarter of a century since the Ogoni 9 were murdered in Nigeria. read more

Nigeria case against JP Morgan over OPL 245 oil deal to go to trial

Julia Payne: 12 July 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – A lawsuit launched by the Nigerian government against U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase, claiming over $1.7 billion (1.29 billion pounds) for its role in a disputed 2011 oilfield deal, will proceed to trial, London’s high court ruled on Thursday.

The suit filed in the English courts in 2017 relates to the purchase of the offshore OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell RDsa.L and Eni ENI.MI in 2011, which is the subject of an ongoing trial in Milan. read more

FACTBOX-Legal cases sparked by Nigerian OPL 245 oilfield licence

By Reuters Staff: NOVEMBER 12, 20202:42 PM

LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – One of the oil industry’s biggest court cases over alleged corruption in Nigeria involves an offshore oilfield licence known as OPL 245, which Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni bought in 2011.

Italian prosecutors allege that most of the payment for the licence was siphoned off to politicians and middlemen.

Shell and Eni and the managers accused in the Milan court case, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, have all denied any wrongdoing. read more

Nigeria protests target Shell in UK, Netherlands

Activists have mounted demonstrations at Shell’s headquarters in London and The Hague, in protest over the killings of the Ogoni 9 in Nigeria, 25 years ago.

By Ed Reed: 10 November 2020

Eight activists from Extinction Rebellion Rotterdam climbed a Shell storage tank in Pernis. A spokesman for the group, Marjolein: “Although Shell is obliged to clean up the oil, they appear to be failing to deliver on their promises as always. That is why today we protest at one of Europe’s largest oil refineries: to show that Shell cannot get away with this and to encourage the people in the Ogoni area. ” read more

OGONI REMEMBERS KEN SARO WIWA’S MURDER 25 YEARS LATER AND RENEWS DEMAND FOR AUTONOMY

November 10, 2020

KorneBari Nwike

On November 10, 2020, the Ogoni people, in the homeland and in the diaspora, are poised to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the judicial murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders with renewed calls for Ogoni autonomy. Twenty-five years ago, on November 10, 1995, Gen. Sani Abacha, bolstered by the Justice Ibrahim Auta tribunal and Shell Oil Company, impulsively murdered Ken Saro Wiwa, one of Africa’s finest and eight other Ogoni leaders for demanding Ogoni political autonomy within Nigeria. Ken Saro Wiwa was an acclaimed writer and Africa’s foremost environmentalist who lead the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). read more

REMEMBERING OGONI 9 HERO

DR. BARINEM NUBARI KIOBEL

By John Donovan

This year is the sad Silver Jubilee of a landmark human rights atrocity. 

Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Dr Barinem Nubari Kiobel who is lovingly remembered every year by his widow Esther Kiobel.

Dr Kiobel was a member of the “Ogoni 9” (which included Ken Saro-Wiwa), all innocent people executed in  Nigeria on November 10, 1995, by the murderous Abacha military regime. The regime was closely associated with and actively supported by Shell. read more

Shell raises dividend as retail boost drives confidence

Shell also plans to shed up to 9,000 jobs, or more than 10% of its workforce.

By Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: 29 October 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday raised its dividend after easily beating quarterly profit forecasts and outlined plans to shrink its oil and gas operations as it presses forward with a transition to low-carbon energy.

The Anglo-Dutch company hit record earnings from its vast retail division, despite the impact on demand of the COVID-19 pandemic, which it said continued to generate “significant uncertainty”. read more

Analysis: Will Nigeria yield in oil deal wrestling bout with Shell and Eni?

By Lionel Faull: 27 October 2020

High profile courtroom dramas involving multiple sides often have the feel of a WWE Smackdown wrestling match: titanic egos clashing with each other, trying to batter their foes into submission. The fighters forge alliances, and the argy-bargy can sometimes spill out of the ring and break out elsewhere in the auditorium.

An epic international corruption trial that is now drawing to a close under the glamourous lights of Milan is a case in point. 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

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