Shell Emerges Victorious In Nigerian Oil Spill Lawsuit At UK Supreme Court

• Shell company has won a UK Supreme Court ruling in an Oil spillage case ruled in favor of it.

• The legal dispute concerned a 2011 offshore oil spill in Nigeria.

• The controversy originated on December 20, 2011, when allegations arose that approximately 40,000 barrels of crude oil had leaked during the loading of a tanker at Shell’s Bonga oilfield.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that in a landmark decision, the United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Shell, the leading British multinational oil and gas company, in a legal dispute concerning a 2011 offshore oil spill in Nigeria.

The court held that Nigerian claimants had exceeded the statutory time limit for bringing their case against two Shell subsidiaries.

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The controversy originated on December 20, 2011, when allegations arose that approximately 40,000 barrels of crude oil had leaked during the loading of a tanker at Shell’s Bonga oilfield, situated 120 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

Shell vehemently contested the accusations, asserting that the Bonga spill had been effectively dispersed offshore without causing any adverse effects on the shoreline, as reported by Reuters.

This case formed part of a series of legal battles between Shell and Nigerians residing in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, which has long grappled with pollution, conflict, and corruption associated with the oil and gas industry.

Oil spillage in Nigeria

A group comprising 27,800 individuals and 457 communities repeatedly sought to bring Shell to court, contending that the resulting oil slick had contaminated their lands and waterways, causing severe damage to farming, fishing, drinking water supplies, mangrove forests, and religious sites.

However, a panel of five Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the decisions made by two lower courts, which concluded that the claimants had initiated legal proceedings after the expiration of the six-year statutory time limit for taking action.

The lawyers representing the claimants argued that the ongoing consequences of the pollution constituted a “continuing nuisance,” which falls under civil tort law and would exempt them from the deadline.

Justice Andrew Burrows, delivering the ruling, stated, “The Supreme Court rejects the claimants’ submission. There was no continuing nuisance in this case.”

While the appellants in the Supreme Court case were two Nigerians, Reuters indicated that the verdict would have implications for the thousands of other claimants involved.

In response to the ruling, Shell confirmed that the decision of the Supreme Court marked the conclusion of all legal claims related to the Bonga spill in English courts.

“While the 2011 Bonga spill was highly regrettable, it was swiftly contained and cleaned up offshore,” remarked a spokesperson for Shell.

As of now, no immediate response has been received from the lawyer representing the Nigerian appellants regarding their stance on the ruling.

This is not the first instance where the Supreme Court has ruled against Shell regarding pollution in the Niger Delta. In February 2021, the court granted permission to a group of 42,500 farmers and fishermen from the Ogale and Bille communities to sue Shell over spills, and that particular case is currently ongoing in the High Court.

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In a separate legal battle, Shell agreed in 2015, after a protracted legal struggle in London, to compensate the Bodo community in the delta region with £55 million ($70 million) for two spills.

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