NIGERIA FINES SHELL $5BILLION USD OVER OIL SPILLAGE AT BONGA IN 2011

Shell has been fined approximately $US5 billion (actually the fine is $4.90 billion) by the Nigerian government over an oil spill late last year at an offshore field in Bonga.


Shell was forced to halt operations at the Bonga oilfield in the Gulf of Guinea following the December 20 leak of some 40,000 barrels of crude.


The fine on Shell's local operation, the head of the state-run National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, Peter Idabor, told a parliamentary hearing


Idabor said the 'administrative penalty' on Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) was in line with international industry practice.


But Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo responded that the fine was unwarranted as the company had acted quickly to contain the spill. In his words:


'We do not believe there is any basis in law for such a fine. Neither do we believe that SNEPCO has committed any infraction of Nigerian law to warrant such a fine,'
'SNEPCO responded to the incident with professionalism and acted with the consent of the necessary authorities at all times to prevent environmental impact as a result of the incident,' he concluded.


Shell can contest the penalty in court.


Audrey Gaughran and his rights group Amnesty International said the fine was the heftiest ever levelled by the country and applauded the move. But, concluded that, it was crucial for Nigeria to specify the justification for the penalty, including whether negligence by Shell led to the spill.


In her words:


'There is very little guarantee that it won't happen again because it's not yet clear what happened in the first place.'
Often, she explained, oil companies are charged with investigating the incidents themselves.
'What we want Nigeria to tell is, 'who did the investigation and exactly what went wrong?' ' she said.
Officials said the incident was Nigeria's worst offshore spill since a 1998 Mobil incident.