UK Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Shell in Nigerian Oil Spill Case

The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling, stating that a group of Nigerian claimants is barred from suing two Shell subsidiaries over a 2011 offshore oil spill. The incident, which occurred on December 20, 2011, resulted in an estimated 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaking during the loading of a tanker at Shell’s Bonga oilfield, situated 120 kilometers (75 miles) off the coast of Nigeria’s Niger Delta.

Shell contested the allegations, asserting that the Bonga spill was dispersed offshore and did not impact the shoreline. The Supreme Court, upholding previous decisions by two lower courts, declared that the plaintiffs had initiated legal proceedings after the expiration of the six-year legal time limit.

A panel of five Supreme Court justices unanimously dismissed the claimants’ argument that the ongoing consequences of the pollution constituted a “continuing nuisance.” The court focused solely on the legal aspect of nuisance, without delving into the evidence supporting either party’s claims.

Justice Andrew Burrows, delivering the ruling, stated, “The Supreme Court rejects the claimants’ submission. There was no continuing nuisance in this case. The leak was a one-off event or an isolated escape. The oil pipe was no longer leaking after six hours.”

The group of claimants, consisting of 27,800 individuals and 457 communities in the Niger Delta, sought legal action against Shell, alleging that the residual oil slick had polluted their lands, waterways, and affected various aspects of their lives, including farming, fishing, drinking water, mangrove forests, and religious shrines. The region has an average life expectancy of 41 years, which is 10 years lower than the national average.

It is noteworthy that UK courts had previously ruled against Shell in another case related to pollution in the Niger Delta. In February 2021, the Supreme Court permitted a group from the Ogale and Bille communities to sue Shell over spills, and this case is currently progressing through the High Court. Shell has maintained that it is not responsible for most of these spills, attributing them to illegal third-party interference.

In a separate case in 2015, Shell agreed to pay £55 million ($70 million) in compensation to the Bodo community in the delta for two spills after a legal battle in London. A Shell spokesperson emphasized the company’s stance that litigation does little to address the primary issue in the Niger Delta, which involves oil spills resulting from crude oil theft, illegal refining, and sabotage.

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