Business
UK S’Court Okays Suit against Shell over Oil Spills
The ruling of the United Kingdom Supreme Court yesterday paved the way for a group of 42,500 Nigerian farmers and fishermen to sue Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) in English courts after years of oil spills in the Niger Delta contaminated land and groundwater.
In a major decision that is bound to have far reaching implications for multinationals operations in their host countries, Senior judges said UK-domiciled Shell, one of the world’s biggest energy companies, did have a common law duty of care, in the latest case to test whether multinationals can be held to account for the acts of overseas subsidiaries.
The ruling comes almost two years after a seminal ruling by the Supreme Court in a case involving mining company, Vedanta. The judgment allowed nearly 2,000 Zambian villagers to sue Vedanta in England for alleged pollution in Africa.
That move was seen as a victory for rural communities seeking to hold parent companies accountable for environmental disasters. Vedanta ultimately settled out of court in January.
Nigeria’s Ogale and Bille communities of Rivers State allege their lives and health had suffered because repeated oil spills had contaminated the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways and that there had been no adequate cleaning or remediation.
Represented by law firm Leigh Day, they argued that Shell owed them a duty of care because it either had significant control of, and was responsible for, its subsidiary SPDC. Shell countered that the court had no jurisdiction to try the claims.
“(The ruling) also represents a watershed moment in the accountability of multinational companies. Increasingly impoverished communities are seeking to hold powerful corporate actors to account and this judgment will significantly increase their ability to do so,” Daniel Leader, partner at Leigh Day, said.
SPDC is the operator of oil pipelines in a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which holds a 55 per cent stake, Shell which holds 30 per cent, France’s Total with 10 per cent, Italy’s Eni with 5 per cent.
A Shell spokesman said the decision was disappointing.
“Regardless of the cause of a spill, SPDC cleans up and remediates. It also works hard to prevent these sabotage spills, by using technology, increasing surveillance and by promoting alternative livelihoods for those who might damage pipes and equipment,” Shell said.
Shell has blamed sabotage for oil spills. It said in its annual report published last March that SPDC, which produces around 1 million barrels of oil per day, saw crude oil spills caused by theft or pipeline sabotage surge by 41 per cent in 2019.
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said last week that the firm would take “another hard look at its onshore oil operations” in the West African country.
The ruling is the second judgement against Shell this year regarding claims against its Nigerian operations. In a landmark Dutch ruling two weeks ago, an appeals court held Shell responsible for multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay unspecified damages to farmers, in a victory for environmentalists.
Leigh Day said that the amount of compensation sought would be quantified as the case enters the trial stage.
In 2015, Shell agreed to pay out 55 million pounds ($83.4 million) to the Bodo community in Nigeria in compensation for two oil spills, which was the largest ever out-of-court settlement relating to Nigerian oil spills.
Business
Updated: NNPC debunks claims Port Harcourt refinery trucking-out old product
Updated: NNPC debunks claims Port Harcourt refinery trucking-out old product
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has denied claims by a community leader in Alesa, Rivers State, alleging that the Port Harcourt refinery is not yet producing fuel.
In a statement released on Friday, NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye criticized the comment made by the community leader, it was based on ignorance about refinery operations.
Soneye explained that while he would have typically ignored such remarks, he felt compelled to respond in order to clarify the situation.
Timothy Mgbere, a leader in the Alesa community, appeared on national television on Thursday, where he accused the NNPCL of misleading Nigerians by claiming that the Port Harcourt refinery was already processing crude oil.
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But Soneye said the Port Harcourt refinery was currently operating at 90% capacity.
He emphasized that the allegations lacked merit and were inconsistent with the facts.
The NNPC spokesperson noted that the community leader had acknowledged fuel being loaded out from the refinery’s gantry but dismissed it as “old stock” from the previous refinery, which, Soneye argued, further undermined the credibility of the allegations.
“He (Mgbere) claimed that the old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS. His proof was that the PMS truck-out was done at the gantry of the new Port Harcourt Refinery as against the gantry of the old Port Harcourt Refinery.
“This betrays his scant knowledge of the operations of the refinery. The old and new Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out.
“They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belong to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery
“The nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000 barrels of oil per day. It is currently producing at 90 per cent throughput which translates to Straight-Run gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million liters of PMS, aside from other products like diesel and kerosene.
“We call on the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance,” Soneye said.
Port Harcourt refinery now 90% operational, says NNPC, tackles community leader claim
Railway
FG hands over $3bn Port Harcourt-Aba railway project to NRC
FG hands over $3bn Port Harcourt-Aba railway project to NRC
The 62-kilometre, $3.02 billion Port Harcourt-Aba railway project has been completed by Federal Government and handed over to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
The Port Harcourt-Aba section is part of the larger Port Harcourt-Maiduguri eastern narrow gauge railway project, initiated under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The project supervisor, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Ayo Dada, formally transferred the railway to the NRC during a brief ceremony held on Thursday in Port Harcourt.
He said that the project, completed in May, had significantly improved passenger movement between Rivers and Abia, thereby enhancing their economies.
“The assets handed over include dismantled tracks measuring 283.060 km, rehabilitated and reconstructed 62.800 km of subgrade and the laying of 62.800 km of rail for the main line,” Dada said.
“This includes the laying of rail for sliding lines covering 5.690 km and the reconstruction of 27 sets of turnouts at Port Harcourt, Elelenwo, Obuzor, Umugo and Aba Stations, among others.”
Dada said that with the handover of the Port Harcourt–Aba section, the Federal Government would focus on the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri phase of the project.
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“The contractor has submitted the technical specifications and maintenance manual for the Port Harcourt–Aba section to the consultants.
“The ministry is committed to completing this project, which will foster national development,” he said.
The Managing Director of the NRC, Ben Iloanusi, commended the Federal Government and the ministry of transportation for the timely completion and transfer of the project.
Iloanusi, represented by the NRC Deputy Manager (Civil), Adesegun Ogunade, said that the railway had greatly benefited Nigerians seeking affordable transportation options.
“The rail line, now in operation, has started mitigating the impact of high transportation costs caused by economic challenges,” he said.
“Train services have been running for some time and passengers have reported that it has made commuting between Port Harcourt and Aba more convenient, faster and cheaper.
“People are already experiencing the benefits of this government’s policies and programmes.’’
He assured that the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri section would also be completed in due course, emphasising that adequate security arrangements had been made to ensure the safety of workers and passengers.
FG hands over $3bn Port Harcourt-Aba railway project to NRC
Business
Naira appreciates to N1,740/$ in parallel market
Naira appreciates to N1,740/$ in parallel market
The Naira yesterday appreciated to N1,740 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,745 per dollar on Wednesday.
Likewise, the Naira appreciated to N1,644.86 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,644.86 per dollar from N1,660.83 per dollar on Wednesday, indicating N15.97 appreciation for the naira.
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The volume of dollars traded (turnover) increased by 66 percent to $560.34 million from $337.07 million traded on Wednesday. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rate widened to N95.14 per dollar from N84.17 per dollar on Wednesday.
Naira appreciates to N1,740/$ in parallel market
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