By Meghan Foley: November 07, 2012
Worldwide concern regarding a 2011 leak at one of Royal Dutch Shell’s (NYSE:RDSA)(NYSE:RDSB) oil fields in Nigeria has gained critical mass; so far this week, the company has been trending on Twitter.
Short phrases like “Payback time for Big Oil,” “Justice for the people,” and “Tell parliament to end oil impunity” have littered the company’s feed over the past few days.
Many of the tweets include a link to a petition sponsored by the advocacy group Avaaz, urging the Nigerian Parliament to fine Shell $5 billion for the 2011 Bonga Oil Spill. In the petition, Avaaz describes Shell as a “giant oil polluter” responsible for a spill that “devastated the lives of millions of people.”