Reply #41: Nigeria hits Shell with £840m compensation claim

[54anickel]

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1000072004

SHELL has been hit by an £840 million compensation claim from the Nigerian government only 24 hours after being fined in Britain and the United States.

The oil giant, which was this week fined a total of £84m for "unprecedented misconduct", has come under fire from pollution-hit communities in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

The demand from the Nigerian senate follows a petition by the Ijaw tribe in the southern Bayelsa state, claiming cash to cover health problems, economic hardship and avoidable deaths resulting from oil spillages dating back to 1956.

Shell admits that in 2002 there were 262 oil spill incidents in Nigeria, involving 2700 tonnes of crude oil. Analysts claimed the dispute would be settled in court, but added that Shell and Nigeria’s state oil company, which operate a joint venture, would be forced to increase environmental spending in the country.

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