UK court approves Nigerian suit against Shell Oil
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Feb. 12 allowed a case filed by 42,335 Nigerian claimants against Shell Oil and a Nigerian subsidiary to proceed in the UK courts. The claimants first sued Shell and its subsidiary in 2015 over leaks from pipelines in the Niger Delta that resulted in the destruction of farmland, the death of fish stocks, and poisoned drinking water. They argued that the oil spills occurred due to the negligence of the subsidiary company responsible for operating the pipelines. They charged that Shell's parent company owed them a "common law duty of care," since it exercised significant control over the operations of the Nigerian subsidiary.
In 2017, the High Court of England & Wales ruled that although the courts had jurisdiction to try the matter against the parent company registered in the UK, it was "not reasonably arguable that there is any duty of care" for the parent company. This decision was subsequently appealed and heard by the Court of Appeal for England and Wales.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal dismissed the claimant's case, ruling that there was "no arguable case" that the parent company owed the claimants a common law duty of care. This decision was appealed to the UK Supreme Court. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition intervened and submitted a legal brief setting out the applicability of comparative law and standards in cases of environmental protection and human rights violations concerning companies' responsibilities in such situations. CORE and the ICJ had previously filed a similar legal brief in a case brought by Zambian communities against the mining giant Vedanta (Lungowe v. Vedanta Resources PLC), in which the court ruled that "companies can be held to account for public commitments regarding their subsidiaries' operating standards."
The Supreme Court allowed the Nigerian claimants to proceed against Shell's parent company and the Nigerian subsidiary, reversing earlier High Court and Court of Appeal decisions, and reaffirmed the precedent established in the Vedanta judgment.
From Jurist, Feb. 14. Used wth permission.
Note: Tribal leaders in Nigeria's Ogoniland region also brought suit against Shell in the US courts in 2011; a settlement in this case was reached in 2015. A related case has also been brought against Shell in the Netherlands, where the UK-registered Anglo-Dutch company is headquartered. This January, a Dutch appeals court ordered Shell to pay restitution to residents of two Nigerian villages. (AP)
Vedanta has been involved in similar controversies in India.
Shell Oil is also facing litigation in multiple jurisdictions over its role in climate change.
See also our feature, Nigeria: Towards a Post-Petroleum Future.
Shell to pays over 1970s oil spill in Nigeria
Oil giant Shell will pay a Nigerian community $111 million over an oil spill more than 50 years ago. A spokesman said the payment would mark the "full and final settlement" to the Ejama-Ebubu community over a spill during the 1967-70 Biafran War.
A Nigerian court fined Shell the equivalent of $41.36 million in 2010, but the company launched a number of unsuccessful appeals. Last year, the country's Supreme Court said that, with interest, the fine owed by the company was more than ten times greater than the original judgement. The case was launched in 1991.
"It is a confirmation of the issues we have raised about Shell’s environmental devastation of Ogoni and the need for a proper remediation of the land," the MOSOP organization for the local Ogoni people said in response. (BBC News, The Guardian)
Attack at Shell facility in Nigeria's southeast
Seven were killed in an attack on a convoy transporting workers to a Shell oil and gas project in Nigeria’s southeast Aug. 16. SPDC, the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell, confirmed the attack "by unknown gunmen, on a convoy of buses taking staff of its contractor" to a site in the Ohaji area of Imo state. No group claimed responsibility, but police have previously blamed the violence on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an outlawed movement seeking independence for the Igbo people of the region. (Al Jazeera)
Halliburton mobilized to Niger Delta
Halliburton Co., one of world's largest oil services companies, announced a unit of the firm has been hired to help seal a well head in southern Nigeria that has been spewing its contents into the surroudning lands and waters for several weeks. The Houston-based firm's Boots & Coots unit has been called in by independent producer Aiteo Eastern E&P Co., to contain the leak from a well in the southern Bayelsa state. (Bloomberg)
Nigerian residents join suit against Shell in UK High Court
Residents of Ogale and Bille communities in Nigeria's Rivers state have joined the lawsuit against Shell PLC seeking compensation for oil spillage in the Niger Delta. The suit has been filed in UK High Court with the plaintiffs being represented by Leigh Day Law firm. This follows Shell’s report which claims to have made almost $40 billion in revenue last year, breaking previous records. (Jurist)