AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Nigeria: Shell must clean up devastating oil spills in the Niger Delta

February 2, 2023

Reacting to the news that two Nigerian communities, which have been devastated by oil spills, have filed claims against Shell at the High Court in London, Amnesty International’s Head of Business and Human Rights Mark Dummett, said:

“More than 13,500 residents from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta have now filed claims against Shell asking that the company clean up oil spills which they say have wrecked their livelihoods, poisoned their wells, and polluted their land and water, which means they can no longer farm or fish.”

“Amnesty stands by these two communities in the Niger Delta, which have been engaged in litigation against Shell for seven years, asking that the company clean up the damage caused and compensate them for their lost livelihoods.

“Shell announced in 2021 that it plans to sell its onshore oilfields and assets in the Niger Delta after 60 years of highly profitable operations in the area. It is concerning that Shell has not explained how it plans to address the widespread and systemic pollution of Nigerian communities linked to its operations over many years before it sells up and leaves. read more

S&P Global/Platts

Shell delays expansion work at Nigeria’s Bonga oil field by two years: sources

• 02 Feb 2022 | 17:47 UTC
• Author Newsdesk-Nigeria 
• Editor Adithya Ram 

Shell has delayed expansion work at its Nigerian offshore Bonga field by another two years, dealing a major blow to the West African country’s quest to grow its crude production after a series of technical and operational setbacks, sources close to the project said Feb. 2.

t was only in May 2021 that Shell, along with its partners, signed a deal with state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC) in the deepwater oil block Oil Mining Lease 118, clearing the path to a major expansion of the country’s Bonga oil and gas field. read more

12 August 2021

By Alex Enumah

Abuja — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has finally agreed to pay compensation for oil spillages in the Ogoni community of Rivers State, to the tune of N45 billion, after over 31 years of legal battles.

The legal battle, which commenced in 1991, saw judgment in favour of the Ogoni community in 2010 by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Lagos division of the Federal High Court.

But the oil giant declined payment and proceeded up to the Supreme Court twice; first in 2017 to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the judgment of the trial court and in 2019, seeking a review of the apex court judgment dismissing its appeal. read more

Agence-France Presse: Thu 12 Aug 2021 00.46 BST

Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay around €95m (£80.4m/$111.6m) to communities in southern Nigeria over crude oil spills in 1970, lawyers involved in the case have said.

“The order for the payment of [$111m] to the claimants is for full and final satisfaction of the judgement,” a local spokesman for Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria said on Wednesday.

Lucius Nwosa, a lawyer representing the Ejama-Ebubu community in Rivers state, confirmed the decision. read more

VOLTERRA FIETTA

UK Supreme Court issues new decision on parent company liability in Okpabi and others v. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another

BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM E-NEWSLETTER 10 AUGUST 2021

On 12 February 2021, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous judgment in Okpabi and others v. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another [2021] UKSC 3, declaring that a claim brought by over 40,000 residents of two communities in the Niger Delta against two Shell group companies over alleged oil spills could proceed to the merits stage. read more

Nigeria Bribery Case Ends In Victory For Shell, Eni

By Julianne Geiger – Mar 17, 2021, 2:30 PM CDT

An Italian court has ruled that oil giants Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Eni SPA are not guilty in a bribery case involving a Nigerian oilfield that has spanned years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Shell, Eni, and Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi, have been on trial for years in the infamous OPL 245 case. Shell, Eni, Descalzi, and others, were accused of knowing that more than $1.1 billion of the $1.3 billion deposited a decade ago into an escrow account controlled by the Nigerian government would eventually be used as bribes to secure oil drilling rights. read more

Dutch appeals court rules Shell Nigeria unit responsible for oil leaks

AMSTERDAM, Jan 29 (Reuters) – A Dutch appeals court on Friday said that the Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell was responsible for oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay unspecified damages farmers.

The decision went a step further than a 2013 ruling by a lower court, saying that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for multiple cases of oil pollution.

Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; editing by Jason Neely read more

Shell Is Back in Court for Nigeria Oil Spills Liability Ruling

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc faces the latest ruling in a long-running legal dispute with Nigerian farmers who say the energy giant is responsible for oil leaks that have polluted their villages.

The case is the first in which a company and its foreign subsidiary have been tried in the Netherlands for allegedly breaching duty of care abroad, and it could have far-reaching implications for future suits brought against oil firms. read more

AskWonder.com: Research on external factors (suppliers, customers, competition, environment, etc) that are influencing Royal Dutch Shell at the moment. Delivered January 30th, 2017.

Links to royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com as reference sources.

Shell Nigeria oil site seized over unpaid damages

Communities in oil-rich Niger Delta pin hopes on Shell climate case

By Nellie Peyton, Thomson Reuters Foundation: DECEMBER 1, 2020

DAKAR, Dec 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As a legal case over energy giant Shell’s planet-heating emissions kicked off in the Netherlands, activists said the health and livelihoods of people in Nigeria’s oil-producing region would hinge on its outcome.

Royal Dutch Shell faced its first court hearing on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by environmental and human rights groups in The Hague, the company’s headquarters. read more

Amnesty International has been challenging Shell for decades about the devastating impact that pollution and environmental damage, associated with the company’s operation, have had on the human rights of people in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Shell has, however, tried to delegate its responsibility for the damage to its Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, making it more difficult even for victims to seek justice. Today, there is a case pending in the UK which seeks to hold the company accountable.

Multinationals Seem Too Big For Accountability. Switzerland May Change That read more

The fossil fuel company Shell must be held accountable for significant and systematic pollution caused by oil extraction in the Niger delta, lawyers will argue in the supreme court.

Nigerians from the Ogale and Bille communities say they have suffered decades of pollution, including the contamination of their water wells with potentially cancer-causing chemicals, as well as the devastation of mangrove vegetation, all of which was documented by the UN in a groundbreaking report in 2011.

The United Nations environment programme (UNEP) said in its report it could take 30 years to clean up the pollution caused by oil extraction and recommended an initial fund of $1bn (£800m) for the first five years to be paid by the oil companies that operate in Ogoniland – including the largest company, Shell. read more

Okpabi and others (Appellants) v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another (Respondents)

Case ID: UKSC 2018/0068

Issue(s)

Whether and in what circumstances the UK-domiciled parent company of a multi-national group of companies may owe a common law duty of care to individuals who allegedly suffer serious harm as a result of alleged systemic health, safety and environmental failings of one of its overseas subsidiaries as the operator of a joint venture operation.

Facts

The Appellants (some 42,500 people) are citizens of Nigeria and inhabitants of the areas allegedly affected by oil leaks from pipelines and associated infrastructure, that SPDC operates on behalf of an unincorporated joint venture in which numerous participating interests are held, in and around the Niger Delta. The leaks are said to have impacted their lives, health and local environment. They contend that the Respondents are responsible. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (‘RDS’) is the parent company of the Shell group of companies, incorporated in the UK. The Shell Petroleum Company of Nigeria Limited (‘SPDC’, the other Respondent) is an exploration and production company incorporated in Nigeria and is a subsidiary of RDS. The claims against RDS and SPDC are based on the tort of negligence under the common law of Nigeria which, for present purposes, is to be regarded as the same as the law of England and Wales. The claim against RDS is brought on the basis that RDS owed the claimants a duty of care either because it exercised significant control over material aspects of SPDC’s operations and/or assumed responsibility for SPDC’s operations. RDS applied under CPR Part 11(1) for orders declaring that the court had no jurisdiction to try the claims against it, or should not exercise such jurisdiction as it had. At first instance Fraser J held that there was no arguable case that RDS owed the Appellants a duty of care. The Appellants appealed to the CA against the judgment and Order of Fraser J. The CA upheld the decision of Fraser J. The Supreme Court has since clarified the law in this area, including by reference to the CA’s decision in this case, in Vedanta Resources PLC and another (Appellants) v Lungowe and others (Respondents) [2019] UKSC 20. read more

According to Shell’s records, the community has been impacted by at least 40 oil spills from Shell’s pipelines and equipment since 1989, including 23 spills in the past 4 years. Shell’s pipelines and infrastructure in Ogale are several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

The Supreme Court hearing will appeal a judgment from February 2018, from the Court of Appeal in London, which upheld an earlier High Court judgment, that the English Court does not have jurisdiction over the claims.

Lawyers representing 40,000 Nigerian farmers and fisherman from two communities in the Niger Delta have been permitted to take their legal claim against the oil giant Shell to the UK Supreme Court.

The decision will allow the two communities from Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta to appeal to the UK’s highest court, having suffered from decades of pollution from Shell’s pipelines.

They have taken their case to the English Courts on the basis that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), which is headquartered in London, is legally responsible for the environmental failures of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), a subsidiary of RDS. read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa 12 July 2019: — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said security remains a major challenge occasioned by continuing crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas facilities in parts of the Niger Delta.

SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the media launch of the 2019 edition of the Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes, an annual publication detailing the activities of the business interests of the global energy giant, noted that the illegal activities result in the loss of 11,000 Barrels Per Day of crude oil. read more

APRIL 26, 2019 / 11:29 PM 

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped, and their police escorts killed, in Nigeria’s restive Delta region, a police spokesman said on Friday.

The workers were in Rivers State, returning from an official trip to Bayelsa state, when they were attacked.

“The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) regrets to confirm the attack on its staff and government security escort at Rumuji, Rivers State, on the East/West road on Thursday, April 25, 2019 around 16:00 hours,” an SPDC spokesman said. read more

A sign warns people to stay off land contaminated by oil pollution

By Bukola Adebayo, CNN: Updated 0018 GMT (0818 HKT) March 27, 2019

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)A major new inquiry into oil companies operating in the Niger Delta has been launched by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu. The probe will investigate “environmental and human damage” in Nigeria’s vast oil fields. read more

By Dulue Mbachu and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: 13 March 2019, 03:00 GMT: Updated on 13 March 2019, 10:51 GMT

Niger River delta wracked by pipeline sabotage, crude theft

Buhari must act now or face ‘doomsday’ later, activist says

After the military government in 1995 executed nine Ogoni activists, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, regional unrest spiraled into full-blown armed militancy in the past 15 years.

Fresh from his comfortable re-election, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari faces a huge hurdle to keep his vow to end the economy’s addiction to oil: win a lasting peace in the crude-rich Niger River delta.

The 76-year-old former military ruler will have to score a breakthrough that’s eluded previous governments in an area where armed groups and thieves pose a constant threat to the flow of crude. To carry out his plans to develop a backbone of stable power, roads and rail lines for agricultural expansion and industrialization in Africa’s most-populous nation, Buhari needs all the money he can get from oil, the source of two-thirds of government revenue. read more

Shell is facing a civil suit in Netherland over its alleged complicity in the killing of Mr Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists. The suit was filed on June 28, 2017, by four of the widows of the Ogoni Nine, led by Esther Kiobel.

Cletus Ukpong: 10 November 2018

It is exactly 23 years today since Ken Saro-Wiwa, a playwright, environmental activist and Ogoni leader was brutally executed.

He was executed on November 10, 1995, by the Nigerian government under the leadership of the then military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Mr Saro-Wiwa and eight of his kinsmen, who became popularly known as the Ogoni Nine, were sentenced to death by a special military tribunal set up by Mr Abacha who later died in June 1998 inside the presidential villa under mysterious circumstances. read more

Italian prosecutors allege that a year after its agreement with the U.S., Shell and Eni SpA, its partner in Nigeria, paid more than $1 billion to win offshore licenses, which mostly went to bribes.

As the company moves away from oil, it can’t shake its years operating in the pollution- and graft-ridden nation.

A leaking, out-of-service Shell oil well head catches fire in Nigeria in 2006. PHOTOGRAPHER: ED KASHI/VII

By Kelly Gilblom

Perched in a helicopter sweeping over the mangrove forests of the Niger Delta, a photographer named Casey is looking for trouble. And she finds it, down among a cluster of tree trunks stained with crude. A faint disturbance in a jungle clearing turns out to be a group of men pawing at a pipeline, a tiny slice of a 1,200-mile web that feeds Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s bustling export hub on Bonny Island. Some of the men flee as the chopper closes in, but most redouble their efforts as Casey aims her camera. “I’ve seen things get better,” she said before takeoff. “Then they go back to getting worse.” read more

A Shell subsidiary said it would begin remediation efforts as soon as site assessments in the Niger Delta communities impacted by the spill are completed.

A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell closed an oil pipeline in the Niger Delta region while investigations into a Sunday crude oil release takes place. File Photo by Tife Owolabi/EPA

Aug. 20 (UPI) — An export pipeline in the Niger Delta remained closed after a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell said it was responding to a release of crude oil.

The subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd., said a multilateral investigation unit was reviewing what led to the Sunday releasefrom its Trans Ramos oil pipeline in the Niger Delta. Though no estimated spill volume was released, by the company, 95 percent of it was already recovered from two impacted communities in the region. read more

By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor: 20 July 2018

15 May 2018

Shell’s payment of $4.32 billion to the Nigerian government in 2017, despite the closure of the 400,000 barrels per day capacity Forcados Oil Terminal, has clearly demonstrated the potentially huge earnings in Nigeria’s oil sector if security challenges are fully addressed, Ejiofor Alike reports

Insecurity of crude oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta has remained a major risk peculiar to Nigeria’s operating environment, which has continued to drive the costs of oil and gas projects in the country above the global benchmark. read more

An atmosphere of unrest is looming over Ogoni land, following the renewal request by Shell Petroleum Development Company for Oil Mining Leases (OML11).

Already, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Ken Saro-Wiwa Associates (KSWA) have intensified mobilisation of the people for a possible showdown with authorities over the development, coming when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report for the cleanup of Ogoni is yet to be implemented.

Shell has consistently maintained it is not interested in returning to Ogoni. The Guardian, however, discovered it wrote a letter dated October 16, 2017 to the Minister of State for Petroleum, seeking the renewal of its lease, due to expire June 2019.  read more

Payments made by Royal Dutch Shell, the major international oil company operating in Nigeria to the federal government increased from $3,638,241,040 in 2016 to $4,322,742,582 in 2017. The rise in payment was as a result of a 10 % growth in production, the oil company said in its 2017 sustainability report published on Monday.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK APR 10, 2018

Payments made by Royal Dutch Shell, the major international oil company operating in Nigeria to the federal government increased from $3,638,241,040 in 2016 to $4,322,742,582 in 2017.

The rise in payment was as a result of a 10 % growth in production, the oil company said in its 2017 sustainability report published on Monday.

The company said in the report that output from its operated fields averaged 464,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) while production from offshore and deep-water fields managed by its local subsidiary, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), averaged 167,000 boe/d. read more

Shell to exit New Zealand after more than 100 years: Financial Times 16 March 2018

Royal Dutch Shell is quitting New Zealand after more than 100 years: Verdict 16 March 2018

Shell pares New Zealand portfolio with $578M asset sale: Seeking Alpha 15 March 2018

Shell to sell remaining NZ assets to OMV for US$578 million: Scoop 16 March 2018

Shell close to easing out Petronas to clinch Hong Kong’s LNG import deal:THEStarONLINE Friday 16March 2018

Royal Dutch Shell boss handed €900,000 pay rise – to an annual package of around €9m: Independent.ie 15 March 2018

Shell CEO’s pay in 2017 rises to 8.9 million euros: Reuters 15 March 2018

Royal Dutch Shell boss handed near-£800,000 pay rise read more

Footage has emerged of a Shell director saying that he was “fundamentally proud” of the company’s actions in Nigeria, only a week before Amnesty International accused the company of being closely involved with human rights abuses in the country.

The remarks were made by Andrew Brown, a member of the Royal Dutch Shell executive committee, at the Shell annual lecture, an event affiliated with the University, at Emmanuel College on the 20th November.

When asked by host Stephen Sackur, a former BBC foreign correspondent, whether he was proud of what Shell had “done over the years in Nigeria”, Brown replied that “I am, I’m fundamentally proud of what happened in Nigeria”.

The comments are likely to raise eyebrows given the controversial nature of Shell’s involvement in Nigeria. On November 28th, Amnesty International called on the British, Dutch, and Nigerian governments to investigate, with a view to prosecution, the role of Shell in human rights abuses in the 1990s. read more

7 December 2017

A new study has found that babies have a higher chance of dying in their first few weeks of life if their mothers live close to an oil spill.

Researchers studied information about babies dying and oil spills in the Niger Delta area of southern Nigeria. The researchers described their results as ‘shocking.’

The study comes from scientists from the University of Saint Gallen in Switzerland. They found that babies born in the Niger Delta were two times as likely to die in the first month of life if their mothers lived close to an oil spill before they became pregnant. read more

Esther Kiobel poses with a picture of her late husband, one of nine men executed by Nigeria’s military government after a peaceful uprising in 1995 against Shell’s widespread pollution in Ogoniland. Photograph: Amnesty International

Multiple news stories: Amnesty International demand criminal investigation of Shell complicity in Nigerian murder, torture and rape

The Guardian: Amnesty seeks criminal inquiry into Shell over alleged complicity in murder and torture in Nigeria

Extract: Amnesty International is calling for a criminal investigation into the oil giant Shell regarding allegations it was complicit in human rights abuses carried out by the Nigerian military. Amnesty is urging the UK, Nigeria and the Netherlands to consider a criminal case against Shell in light of evidence it claims amounts to “complicity in murder, rape and torture” – allegations Shell strongly denies. read more

Bodo received support from British law firm Leigh Day, which negotiated a 55 million-pound pollution settlement with Shell in 2015.

Oil companies and activists hope it will be a blueprint for wider rehabilitation, but other badly polluted communities are unhappy not to be included.

Earlier this month, crews of young men equipped with high-pressure hoses began to attack the crude oil that has blighted the creeks and mangrove swamps in the area where they live.

The workers from Bodo in Rivers State are beginning a three-year project that claims to mark a new approach to cleaning up the delta, the vast polluted swampland that pumps the oil vital to Africa’s largest economy. read more

Oil companies and activists hope it will be a blueprint for wider rehabilitation but other badly polluted communities are unhappy not to be included.

Earlier this month, crews of young men equipped with high pressure hoses began to attack the crude oil that has blighted the creeks and mangrove swamps in the area where they live.

The workers from Bodo in Rivers State are beginning a three-year project that claims to mark a new approach to cleaning up the delta, the vast polluted swampland that pumps the oil vital to Africa’s largest economy. read more

Letter from Ayoka Lawani published by The Nation on 6 Nov 2017

SIR: Recently Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visited Nigeria. While there, according to reports, she spoke vigorously about the merits of mobile money. What she came to do on behalf of the UN is not the topic here.

It is who she is that should be the business of all Nigerians. She is married to King Wilhem Alexander of the Netherlands whose mother, former Queen Beartrix  ( who abdicated for Alexander in 2013) is the single largest shareholder of the Shell Company. This makes Queen Maxima a major owner of Shell. read more

By Owen Akenzua: 31 Oct 2017

Asaba — Oil spill victims under the aegis of Oil Spill Victims Vanguard (OSPIVV) have initiated a lawsuit in the United Kingdom against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), a subsidiary of the Royal-Dutch Shell Plc., over alleged $3, 600,191, 206 compensation to 168,000 persons and 350 communities affected by the December 20, 2011 spill from its Bonga Oil Field in Delta State.

The group’s Executive Director, Harrison Jalla in a statement, said the move was to ensure accelerated hearing and justice. read more

Callum Turcan: Oct. 4, 2017 5:28 AM ET

Summary

• Attacks on oil & gas infrastructure in Nigeria pose a serious risk to Royal Dutch Shell.
• Looking at Shell’s footprint in the country.
• How it has been impacted so far.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) is a big player in Nigeria, a country that has been dealing with increases in civil unrest and sporadic violence over the past few years, particularly from the Niger Delta Avengers group that wants a larger portion of the oil & gas tax revenue to go to the Niger Delta region. This is on top of Nigeria’s ongoing fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country. The ongoing security situation is a major risk for Shell’s Nigerian operations, especially as the Niger Delta Avengers have shown the ability to repeatedly target bottlenecks like pipelines and force a lot of output offline. Let’s dig in by first going over what’s at stake for Shell. read more

Shell today confirmed it had kick-started production at Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

Written by Reporter – 23/08/2017 10:54 am

Today’s announcement is a positive step for Shell’s global gas portfolio,” said Andy Brown, Shell’s upstream director.

“It is also good news for Nigeria as gas from Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 will strengthen supply to the domestic market and maintain supply to the export market.”

Phase 2 follows the success of the first phase of the Gbaran-Ubie integrated oil and gas development, which was commissioned in June 2010. Peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day is expected in 2019. read more

AUGUST 23, 2017

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has started gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, the company said on Wednesday.

The project is an expansion of the Gbaran-Ubie development, which opened in June 2010.

Shell, through its Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria subsidiary, said the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019. read more

August 14, 2017

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) remitted 29.8 billion dollars to the federation account and 1.2 billion dollars to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2002 and 2016, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, made the disclosure on Monday.

Mr. Weli spoke in Port Harcourt while reacting to the shut-down of SPDC flow station and gas plant in Belema community by angry youth.

The youth accused the company of neglecting them and marginalising their community. read more

Niger Delta Communities In Rivers State Shut Down Shell’s Oil Flow-Station

Members of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities in Rivers State this morning shut down operations by oil giant, Shell, at the Belema flow-station known as OML 25. The flow-station is located within the communities’ land in Kula Kingdom in Akuku Toru local government area of the state.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK: AUG 12, 2017

Members of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities in Rivers State this morning shut down operations by oil giant, Shell, at the Belema flow-station known as OML 25. The flow-station is located within the communities’ land in Kula Kingdom in Akuku Toru local government area of the state.

Some 1500 women, youths, and chiefs from the two communities marched down to the flow-station to protest what they described as Shell’s “obnoxious acts” and the underdevelopment of their communities. Raising a familiar complaint by inhabitants of the impoverished swamplands that produce most of Nigeria’s oil, the protesters said they had received no benefits from the region’s oil wealth. They demanded an end to the oil pollution that has ruined much of their land. read more

Tife Owolabi: AUGUST 11, 2017 / 11:13 AM

AKUKU-TORU, Nigeria (Reuters) – Hundreds of Nigerian protesters stormed a crude oil flow station owned by Shell in the restive Niger Delta on Friday demanding jobs and infrastructure development, a Reuters witness said.

The protesters complained they were not benefiting from oil production in their area, a common refrain in the impoverished swampland that produces most of Nigeria’s oil. They also demanded an end to oil pollution in the area. read more

Anxiety as MOSOP, others protest Shell’s resumption of oil production in Ogoniland

Posted By: Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt On: August 5, 2017

Thousands of Ogoni people, from the four Local Government Areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, yesterday defied the heavy rain to massively protest the return of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to resume crude oil production and laying of pipelines, after the Anglo/Dutch oil giant was sent packing from Ogoniland over 24 years ago.

The protesters, comprising elderly men, women and youths, who were armed with placards, bearing various inscriptions, drumming and singing anti-Shell songs, were led by the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden

By REUTERS: JULY 27, 2017, 3:03 A.M. E.D.T.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell more than tripled its profits in the second quarter to beat forecasts boosted by strong refining operations and a rise in oil prices.

The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company also reported a huge recovery in cash flow to $12.2 billion and a drop in debt as its cost reduction efforts in recent years paid off. It has sold some $25 billion of assets since acquiring BG Group last year.

The strong results came despite a dip in oil and gas production versus the previous quarter as a result of reduced output from a facility in Qatar. read more

Disruption has been reduced in the oil-producing Niger Delta but violence continues to simmer and will continue to play a role in Nigerian politics, writes Ed Reed

What: Violence in the Delta has fallen since late 2016.

Why: Militants have secured a seat at the table, at state and federal levels.

What next: A degree of violence will continue but it is unlikely to return to 2016 levels in the near term.

Militancy in the Niger Delta dominated the country’s oil industry in 2016, driven by the Forcados closure, which took its toll on Royal Dutch Shell but also on smaller independents. Various groups played a part but the spotlight was dominated by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), driven by a media-savvy campaign. read more

The counsel to Shell, Mr. Olawale Akoni (SAN), argued that Shell was not given fair hearing. .PHOTO: aljazeera.com

By Kelvin Ebiri (South-South Bureau Chief)   |   12 June 2017

The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to pay N122 billon as damages to Ejama-Ebubu community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State for crude oil spillage.

Justice Ali Abubakar Gumel dismissed Shell’s appeal for failure to file a competent brief of argument to support or proffer arguments in her suit. read more

By Daniel Adugbo: 5 May 2017

Houston, U.S.A. — The net profit of Royal Dutch Shell more than doubled in the first three months of 2017, surpasing predictions by analysts as rebounding oil prices and refining gains helped to boost the company’s revenue.

The company’s first quarter 2017 financial results released yesterday showed that net income attributable to shareholders in the quarter, based on a current cost of supplies (CCS), rose by $2.2 billion.

CCS is a number similar to the net income that US oil companies report. read more

Shell to invest $25 billion in Nigeria, other countries

May 5, 2017: Agency Report

Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, has announced plans to invest about $25 billion this year in Nigeria and all its oil and gas operation across the world.

Shell made the announcement in its first quarter 2017 financial results released on Thursday.

The report revealed that Shell netted an income of $2.2 billion and was expecting to generate $10 billion in cash flow from the delivery of some of its new projects by 2018.

The company recently announced the resumption of oil production at its 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) field in Nigeria’s deep-waters. read more

by Tony Tamuno
26 April 2017, 12:08 BST

Nigeria detained a vessel with crew members from countries including Pakistan, Indonesia and Ukraine for alleged theft of crude from a facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the navy said.

The tanker, MT TECNE, was apprehended before dawn on April 25 while loading crude from the Afremo platform operated by Shell’s Nigerian unit, Ibrahim Dewu, a navy spokesman, said Wednesday by phone from the southern city of Warri. “They had siphoned about 2,000 metric tons of crude oil from the loading jacket before their arrest,” he said. read more

by Rakteem Katakey: 26 April 2017, 00:01 BST

Big Oil’s struggle against crude’s collapse is starting to ease, giving some companies enough cash to pay shareholders without piling on more debt.

The world’s five biggest non-state oil producers, known as the supermajors, probably increased cash from operations by a combined 67 percent last quarter from a year earlier, according to HSBC Bank Plc analysts Gordon Gray and Kim Fustier. That may allow some to cover dividends and capital spending without borrowing for the first time since 2012, they said. read more

Mar. 29, 2017 12:57 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A, RDS.B) VP of crude oil trading is out with a strong defense against accusations that the company’s activity in the North Sea crude market has skewed the benchmark Brent contract that underpins global oil prices.

Shell allegedly traded very aggressively in the region during 2016, with large positions in North Sea crude at times running contrary to clear signs of oversupply in the market, with the buying spree seen potentially pushing up prices. read more

A whistleblower has accused oil giant Shell of concealing data on the health effects of two major oil spills on communities in Nigeria. 

In a letter seen by the Independent, Kay Holtzmann, a former employee at the company, said data gathered in the Bodo community which was devastated by two huge oil spills in 2008 and 2009, showed levels of pollution were “astonishingly high”. He also accused the company of refusing to make the findings public. 

Mr Holtzmann was the former director in charge of Shell’s project to clean up oil spills in the Bodo community, which is located in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.  read more