Shell to pay $ 111 million for decades-old oil spill

LAGOS, Aug. 11 (Reuters) – Oil company Shell (RDSa.L) will pay a Nigerian community 45.9 billion naira ($ 111.68 million) to settle a case over an oil spill that occurred more than 50, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. .

The company will pay the Ejama-Ebubu community in Nigeria’s Ogoniland “Full and Final Settlement” to end the case of a spill that took place during the Biafran War of 1967-70.

In November last year, the Supreme Court of Nigeria rejected Shell’s offer to challenge an award of 17 billion naira in 2010 ($ 41.36 million), which, along with accrued interest, according to the community , was worth over 180 billion naira. Read more

Shell said it never had a chance to defend itself against the merits of the claims and earlier this year launched international arbitration against Nigeria over the case. Read more

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, in a statement, said it maintained that the spills were caused by third parties during the war and that it had fully rehabilitated the Ebubu community sites.

The company, the largest international oil company operating in Nigeria, has faced a series of legal losses over the past year over oil spills and is in talks with the government to sell its stakes in the onshore oil fields. . Read more

($ 1 = 411.0000 naira)

Reporting by Libby George, additional reporting by Tife Owolabi; Editing by Aurora Ellis

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