Following the judgements of the Court of Appeal of The Hague on 29 January 2021, Shell and Milieudefensie have negotiated a settlement for the benefit of the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, impacted by four oil spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007
According to the petroleum giant, the settlement with the Dutch affiliate of the international organisation, Friends of the Earth, is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills. Under the settlement, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), as operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of US$1.59mn (approximately) for the benefit of the communities and the individual claimants.
An independent expert has confirmed that SPDC, as operator of the SPDC joint venture, has installed a leak detection system on the 20'' lines that form the KCTL Pipeline in compliance with the court judgment. The parties agree that remediation has been completed and certified by relevant regulatory agencies in Nigeria in accordance with Nigerian law. The parties agree this also follows from the judgments of the Court of Appeal.
The verdict had come after 13 years of a legal battle, in which the court ruled against the Shell's subsidiary in Nigeria and ordered payment of compensation to the affected party.
