For Shell or its local Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC) to be held liable, “the court must be satisfied that there were no other significant causes which contributed to the claimants’ alleged losses such as spills by other operators or pollution as a result of illegal refining or sabotage”, the spokesperson said.
The number of spills fell in 2022, in part because of the shut down of exports through the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP). The TNP runs to the Bonny terminal.
“It is high time that it addressed the ongoing pollution caused to these communities by its operations. The question must be asked whether Shell simply plans to leave the Niger Delta without addressing the environmental disaster which has unfolded under its watch?”
In the more than a quarter century since Shell Plc left Ogoniland in southern Nigeria, oil has continued to ooze from dormant wellheads and active pipelines, leaving the 386-square mile kingdom’s wetlands shimmering with a greasy rainbow sheen, its once-lush mangroves coated in crude, well-water smelling of benzene and farmlands charred and barren.
Nigeria has long had issues with safety, not least in keeping workers safe from militants. The government has shown little sign of tackling the problem among legal operations, let alone the safety challenges of widespread illicit bunkering and refining.
Seplat Energy has reported some slow progress at pipeline projects, but with EBITDA growing at 82% year on year it is seeing a clear benefit from higher oil prices.
Shell has won its case in The Hague against Nigeria’s Esther Kiobel, with the court rejecting a link between the company and the execution of her husband.