REUTERS

Court rejects Nigeria’s compensation request against Eni, Shell

By Alfredo Faieta and Francesca Landini: November 11, 2022

MILAN, Nov 11 (Reuters) – An appeals court in Milan on Friday rejected Nigeria’s $1.092 billion compensation request against Italian energy group Eni SpA (ENI.MI) and Shell Plc (SHEL.L) in civil proceedings relating to a $1.3 billion oilfield deal.

The decision was read out in court.

In July prosecutors had dropped related criminal proceedings, clearing Eni and Shell, as well as managers including Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi, in one of the oil industry’s biggest alleged corruption cases. read more

REUTERS

Nigerian widows end their case in the Netherlands against Shell

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A group of four widows who had sought to hold Shell liable for damages in the Netherlands after their anti-oil activist husbands were executed by the Nigerian government in 1995 have cancelled further legal proceedings, their lawyer said on Monday.

“Obviously this is not without disappointment and frustration,” said lawyer Channa Samkalden in statement announcing that the widows have cancelled an appeal launched after the Hague District Court rejected their case earlier this year. read more

THE HERALD

Shell chief to receive compensation for loss of office

28 Oct 2022

THE outgoing chief executive of oil and gas giant Shell is to receive a year’s salary by way of compensation for loss of office.

Ben van Beurden will receive £1.42 million when he steps down at the end of this year, which is to be paid in six instalments. Shell said outstanding payments will be reduced by 50 per cent if he secures a paid position, excluding non-executive directorships, in that time.

The company also said that Mr van Beurden will continue to receive his base salary until the end June next year. The London-listed Anglo-Dutch energy giant said that a pro-rated annual bonus in relation to performance year 2023 will be determined by Shell’s remuneration committee after June next year.

Shell said the 2021 and 2022 long term incentive awards will be reduced to reflect the portion of the performance period that has elapsed to June next year. read more

The Guardian

South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell

Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine life

A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.

The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life.

The 2014 decision granting the right for the “exploration of oil and gas in the Transkei and Algoa exploration areas is reviewed and set aside”, the high court ruled in the southern city. read more

Bloomberg

Shell-Backed Cleanup in Niger Delta Is Worse Than Estimated: NGO

William Clowes, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Restoration work at a Shell Plc-financed cleanup of oil pollution in southern Nigeria may be of poorer quality than previously thought, an organization that monitors the effort said after it re-tested samples in an overseas laboratory.

The $1 billion restoration of Ogoniland – a small kingdom in the Niger Delta — began in 2019, on the advice of a 2011 UNEP report. The project was backed by promised funding from Shell and support from the UN agency. read more

Bloomberg

Nigeria to Continue $3.5 Billion Claim Against Eni And Shell

William Clowes and Alberto Brambilla: Tue, July 19, 2022, 5:37 PM

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria will continue its $3.5 billion civil claim against Shell Plc and Eni SpA after Italian prosecutors dropped criminal proceedings against the companies, a lawyer representing Africa’s largest crude producer said.

The West African country, which joined the case as a civil party in 2018, still plans to appeal the March 2021 ruling by a court in Milan acquitting the energy giants and several of their current and former executives of corruption charges, Olabode Johnson, a lawyer for the Nigerian government, said by phone. read more

REUTERS

Exxon, Shell May Pursue Part of $1.8 Billion Nigerian Award–US Appeals Court

By Reuters: July 8, 2022, at 11:34 a.m.

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday said Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc affiliates may try to enforce part of a $1.8 billion arbitration award against Nigeria’s state-run oil company, in a dispute concerning oil extraction near the African country’s coastline.

It said the judge should have determined which parts of the award had been deemed enforceable by a Nigerian appeals court. Lawyers for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. read more

REUTERS

Shell says its Nigeria asset sale not affected by court ruling

ABUJA, June 21 (Reuters) – Shell Plc (SHEL.L) has said its planned sale of onshore assets in Nigeria will go ahead and was not affected by a Supreme Court ruling in a case in which a Niger Delta community is seeking compensation for a 2019 oil spill.

Bamidele Odugbesan, spokesman for Shell in Nigeria, said the June 16 Supreme Court ruling was in response to an appeal launched by Shell against a contempt ruling linked to the dispute with the Niger Delta community.

The lawyer for the community said the ruling, which was made public on Monday, barred Shell from disposing its assets as ordered by a lower court in March.

“The Supreme Court ruling on 16 June was with respect to the contempt proceedings and not related to (the) onshore portfolio review,” Odugbesan said.

Shell has invited bids for its onshore assets. Odugbesan did not say how many bids had been received.

Eighty-eight communities in Rivers state were awarded $1.95 billion compensation for an oil spill they blamed on Shell and which damaged their farms and waterways. Shell denies causing the spill. read more read more

REUTERS

JPMorgan wins London oil trial in which Nigeria sought $1.7 bln

By Sinead Cruise and Estelle Shirbon: June 14, 2022

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has won a London High Court battle against Nigeria, which was seeking $1.7 billion in damages over the U.S. bank’s role in a disputed 2011 oilfield deal.

JPMorgan said the judgment reflected its commitment to acting with high professional standards everywhere it operates, while Nigeria said it was disappointed and would review the judgment carefully before considering its next steps. read more

AP NEWS

South Africa court to rule on Shell offshore oil exploration

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African court is to rule on efforts to stop British oil giant Shell from conducting any further seismic surveys in the country’s Indian Ocean waters to explore for offshore oil and gas deposits.

Environmental and community groups in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province won an urgent interdict to stop the surveys in December last year and are now asking the court to permanently halt the operations. read more

DAILY MAVERICK

Judgment reserved in case against Shell’s seismic survey along the Wild Coast

By Tembile Sgqolana: 31 May 2022

The second day of the three-day court case between Shell, Impact Africa and environmental activists kicked off at the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday following arguments from advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC and advocate Nick Ferreira on Monday.

The judges adjourned the matter, reserving judgment in both granting the joinder application put forward by Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa (represented by the environmental law firm Cullinan & Associates) and the declarator that Shell required an environmental authorisation under the National Environmental Management Act (Nema), and if their exploration rights had been lawfully awarded by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

On Monday, Judge President Selby Mbenenge, Deputy Judge President Zamani Nhlangulela and Judge Thandi Norman heard the merits of the joinder application.

On Tuesday, Jeremy Gauntlett SC, representing Impact Africa, argued against the joinder application sought by Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa, saying the two organisations added nothing new to the case and had decided to attach themselves like a “cuckoo in a nest”.

During the second day, Gauntlett argued that the applicants were using a legal “knobkerrie” via interdict to undermine Minister Gwede Mantashe’s  authority to decide the matter, laying blame on imperfect legislation rather than the decision-maker. read more

The Guardian

The village that stood up to big oil – and won

The fossil fuel industry faces a reckoning in the Niger Delta after a disaster left families ‘eating, drinking, breathing the oil’

Wednesday 1 June 2022

Today, the oil industry in Nigeria faces a reckoning with Shell at the helm. According to Amnesty International, the oil company has come under “unprecedented legal scrutiny” in recent years for its negligent and criminal practices in the Niger Delta. Several lawsuits are ongoing while others have culminated in courts ordering Shell to pay plaintiffs billions of dollars in damages. The mounting pressure has Shell considering a rapid departure from the region’s oil market. In early August 2021, the company announced it would sell off all remaining onshore oilfields in Nigeria, citing challenges with community unrest, sabotage and a company-wide refocus on promoting green energy. But locals and lawyers see the move as Shell ducking its responsibility to clean up after itself. A court in March barred Shell from selling any more assets in Nigeria while the company appeals against a ruling in which it was found liable for a 2019 oil spill and ordered to pay affected communities nearly $2bn in damages. read more

Bloomberg News

Shell Court Case Prompts Climate Protest in Cape Town

Bloomberg News: Paul Burkhardt: May 28, 2022

Protesters rallied in Cape Town on Saturday ahead of a court ruling on oil and gas exploration by Shell Plc.

Community groups in December won a temporary halt to the company’s seismic survey off South Africa, pending a decision on whether further environmental authorization is needed for the work to proceed. The case will reopen on Monday.

Demonstrators held signs that showed the Shell logo and read “stop all seismic blasting,” activity that they argue will harm local marine life and disrupt fishing, while the company maintains the practice has been well established and in line with industry standards. read more

CNN

Shell escaped liability for oil spills in Nigeria for years. Then four farmers took them to court — and won

By Nimi Princewill and Krystina Shveda, CNN: Updated 1540 GMT (2340 HKT) May 25, 2022

Nigeria (CNN)When Nigerian environmental lawyer Chima Williams launched a lawsuit against oil giant Shell plc, he did not envisage a 13-year battle that would lead to a landmark ruling and land him a prestigious environmental award.

Williams, who is the executive director of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, successfully convinced the Court of Appeal in the Hague that Shell plc was responsible for the activities of its subsidiary in Nigeria — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) — and for oil spills that ravaged local farmlands.

The suit against Shell Nigeria was brought by four farmers from the Goi and Oruma communities in the country’s oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta region, who said their farms were left in ruins after major spills from underground pipelines.

The decision to allow Shell plc, formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc, to be sued in this jurisdiction set a precedent as it was the first time the Dutch parent company was sued in its home country for the actions of its foreign subsidiary, SPDC.

Shell Nigeria (SPDC) was eventually held liable for the oil spills and ordered to pay damages to the farmers in a January 29, 2021, ruling by the Court of Appeal of the Hague. SPDC was also ordered to carry out an intensive clean-up of the damage to the communities.

Williams was on Wednesday awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work in holding the company accountable for the environmental damage. read more

Reuters

Shell 2021 oil spills in Nigeria double in volume

April 5, 2022 11:54 AM 

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) – Shell (SHEL.L) said on Tuesday the volume of crude oil spills caused by sabotage in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta more than doubled to 3,300 tonnes last year, a level last seen in 2016.

While the volume of spills rose, the number of major spills fell to 106 in 2021 from 122 incidents the previous year, Shell said in its sustainability report.

It said in 2020, oil spills in Nigeria stood at 1,500 tonnes. read more

Nigeria: Dutch court rejects suit of ‘Ogoni Nine’ widows against Shell

The court said there was insufficient evidence to support claims of the families of the activists executed alongside the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995.

23 March 2022

A Dutch court has thrown out a suit against Shell brought by four widows of activists who were executed by late Nigerian military leader Sani Abacha in 1995 after protests against the company’s exploitation of the oil-rich Niger Delta.

The court said there was not enough evidence to support the widows’ claim that Shell had been involved in bribing witnesses related to the case.

In 2019, the court had handed the widows a rare win in their long-running battle by allowing the case to continue. But it had also said the claimants needed to prove Shell’s liability.

Shell has always denied wrongdoing.

Esther Kiobel, whose husband Barinem Kiobel was among those executed, said she would file an appeal at The Hague.

“We can’t do it in Nigeria because they [the government] are the collaborators,” she said. “I want their [activists] names exonerated. That’s what I want and that’s what I’m fighting for.” read more