Business
Nigeria seeks to fine Shell $ 5 billion for December oil spill
Environmental Damage caused by past oil spill in Nigeria. PHOTO/File
The Nigeria regulator says it wants Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s local subsidiary to pay a US$5 billion fine for the worst offshore spill in the oil-rich nation in more than a decade.
Peter Idabor, head of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency of Nigeria, said Tuesday he had made the recommendation to Nigerian lawmakers at a parliamentary hearing Monday.
He said the company accepts “equipment failure” caused the December 20 spill at its Bonga deep-water oil field, which it has said saw less than 40,000 barrels of oil pour into the Atlantic Ocean.
Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo said the company did not believe there was “any basis in law for this fine.”
He said the company had responded to the spill with “professionalism” and acted with the approval of authorities “to prevent environmental impact.”