Shell to Pay $83 Million Settlement for Nigeria Oil Spills

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo 
Jan 7, 2015 2:26 AM ET  

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) agreed to pay compensation to thousands of residents of the Bodo community in Nigeria’s crude-rich Niger River delta region for two “highly regrettable” oil spills in 2008.

Shell will pay a total of 55 million pounds ($83.3 million) with “an individual payment to each claimant who accepts the settlement agreement in compensation for losses arising from the spills,” the Hague-based company said today in a statement. The settlement follows a three-year legal tussle between Shell and 15,600 Nigerians from Ogoniland, mostly fishermen, in a London court.

Shell said it would soon begin work to clean up the spill sites after the agreement was reached.

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