“Shell no longer liable for Nigeria oil spill, UK court rules”

Oil company Shell can no longer be sued for an oil spill in 2011. A large group of individuals and communities had wanted to sue Shell for the damage caused by the spilled oil, but the case has expired, according to the United Kingdom’s highest civil court.

On December 20, 2011, an amount equivalent to 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaked from the Bonga oil field, 120 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

The oil spill, according to the group, which consists of 27,800 individuals and 457 communities, caused long-term damage. They say the remaining oil spill has polluted their land and waterways, affecting agriculture, fishing, drinking water, mangrove forests and religious sanctuaries.

As a result, the normal six-year statute of limitations does not apply, they said. The Supreme Court did not agree. Shell itself says that no damage was caused on land by the leaked oil. The oil would have already been cleaned up at sea.

Shell has been sued more often for oil spills in Nigeria. The Court of Appeal in The Hague ruled last year that Shell is liable in such a case. The oil company had to pay compensation to four duped Nigerian farmers. The case was brought by the four farmers, supported by Milieudefensie.

Shell said at the trial that the spills were caused by residents and local gangs deliberately making holes in the pipes to steal oil. Shell’s parent company also said that it is not directly responsible, because the day-to-day management is in the hands of subsidiary Shell Nigeria.

The court ruled that it is “the most likely hypothesis” that oil thieves caused the spills, but because hard evidence was lacking, the oil company was held liable. The four farmers and their communities then received 15 million euros from Shell.