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The groups say the files undermine Shell’s long‑standing defence that most pollution stemmed from oil theft and sabotage. Social Action director Isaac Osuoka warned Shell’s 2024 divestment from onshore assets must not become a way to avoid responsibility. Shell must answer for decades of pollution in the Niger Delta after internal company documents revealed broken rules, failing infrastructure and unresolved clean-up costs that risk leaving affected communities to pay the price, a coalition of human rights and environmental organisations, including Amnesty International, said today in a new report. ‘Shell documents expose ‘basket’ pipeline, ‘missing’ wells and US$10.9bn decommissioning costs as pollution scandal grows’ 29 July 2026 The organisations claim that Shell’s activities caused widespread oil pollution that contaminated water sources, farmland and fisheries, harming the health and livelihoods of local communities, while the company continued to profit and denied responsibility for the environmental damage. A coalition of human rights and environmental organisations alleges that internal Shell documents disclosed during UK legal proceedings reveal negligent and polluting operations in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
However, due to the emerging corruption allegations and ensuing legal disputes, the companies were never able to develop the field. Etete had been convicted in France in 2007 on unrelated money-laundering charges, yet Shell and Eni executives continued to negotiate with him directly during the OPL 245 deal, fully aware they were dealing with him for the licence. The affair gave rise to criminal trials in Italy, civil suits in the United Kingdom, parallel investigations in Nigeria, the Netherlands and the United States, and has become one of the largest cross-border corruption sagas in the history of the oil industry. Prosecutors and activists alleged that almost US $1.1 billion of the purchase price was channelled through middlemen to politicians and officials, including former petroleum minister Dan Etete, whose company Malabu Oil & Gas had originally been awarded the field.
Imo Community Seeks Government Intervention Over Alleged Security Brutality
The BBC has asked Hyprep and the Nigerian government to comment on the allegations but has received no response. In a separate leaked report seen by the BBC from the same year, it was pointed out that laboratory results were "regularly reported with deviations". However, the BBC has seen internal documents that suggest representatives of Shell and of the Nigerian government were warned numerous times of the agency’s alleged fraudulent practices. The report concluded that a comprehensive clean-up of the area would take years – and it led to the formation of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (Hyprep). Paulina Agbekpekpe told the BBC that lush greenery once surrounded thriving mangroves of her community in Bodo – which is not one of those going to court on Thursday. The communities say the spills have left them without clean water, unable to farm and fish, and created serious risks to public health.
The 27 documents were made public in April 2026 after campaign groups won a public-interest disclosure; additional documents were revealed in May. Much of the material stems from a 2015 lawsuit by the Bille and Ogale communities against Shell and SPDC in UK courts. The coalition also says Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell plc) was directly involved in decisions at SPDC, contradicting the company’s past claims that the Nigerian unit operated autonomously.
Concerns over role in oil theft, broken rules and failing infrastructure
In 2014, the Nigerian House of Representatives voted to cancel the OPL 245 deal, declaring it illegal and “contrary to the laws of Nigeria”. Nigeria also sued JP Morgan in London for alleged negligence in releasing the US $875 million to Malabu. Although the bribe conspiracy was not prosecuted in UK courts as a criminal matter, London played a key role as the venue for related legal actions and as a source of evidence. The United Kingdom became involved in the OPL 245 saga primarily through its financial system and its cooperation in international investigations. Italian prosecutors in Milan, led by anti-corruption investigator Fabio De Pasquale, investigated Eni and Shell for international corruption, given that Eni’s headquarters and several executives are based in Italy. The Nigerian government, which received only a $210 million official "signature bonus" from the deal, saw none of the $1.1 billion that went to Malabu, prompting public outrage and calls for accountability.
Shell’s response to Amnesty International
- “A fossil fuel giant that could not verify the location and integrity of hundreds of wells and pipeline clamps, and lacked effective leak detection, cannot credibly claim it had pollution under control.
- Long-running oil-spill claims can create legal, remediation and reputational liabilities for international energy companies operating in jurisdictions with extensive historical environmental damage.
- The court determined that the allegations should be examined before the substantive trial because they could affect the credibility of witnesses whom Shell intends to rely on during the proceedings.
- The substantive trial is scheduled to begin at the High Court in May 2027.
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It later decided to divest its onshore business rather than face the enormous cost of clean-up and decommissioning, including an internal US$10.9 billion decommissioning estimate. It denies wrongdoing and says spills in the region have been caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining for which the company says it is not liable. Shell, which has been pushing to sell its assets in the West African country to focus on offshore drilling and onshore gas, has indicated it will defend the claims.
Divestment and unanswered US$10.9bn decommissioning costs
The DOJ and SEC requested information to determine if either company (or their executives) had violated U.S. anti-bribery laws, since some of the alleged conduct or money flows touched U.S. jurisdictions. In October 2024, a Brescia court convicted former Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro of withholding exculpatory material during the OPL 245 trial, imposing eight-month suspended sentences and highlighting deep divisions inside the Italian judiciary. Prosecutors presented evidence of email communications, financial transactions, and testimonies to show that the 2011 OPL 245 deal was essentially a “handout to thieves” – with $1.1 billion allegedly siphoned to pay off a who’s who of Nigerian power brokers. Prosecutors later alleged that then-President Goodluck Jonathan was among those slated to receive a share, an accusation he has denied. Shell later sold SPDC to Renaissance Africa Energy in 2025, despite concerns over the new company’s capacity, limited public financial information and the need for up to US$1.2 billion in secured loans from Shell to support the acquisition itself. An internal report sent to Shell’s then CEO in 2014 estimated that decommissioning all existing SPDC assets could take decades and cost US$10.9 billion, equivalent to US$14 billion today, apparently excluding clean-up costs.
As of 2025, there has been no public report of a Dutch trial or resolution of charges against Shell regarding OPL 245. Naija247news.com (est. Oct 2010), the flagship publication of Naija247news Media Group LLC, delivers financial intelligence, macroeconomics, and policy insights across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. As the Founder and CEO of Naija247news Media Group LLC, he has led the organization from its 2010 inception into a nationally recognized digital newsroom known for data-driven investigative reporting. The court also clarified that the claims are not “all or nothing” or “global claims”. The communities are seeking aggravated damages and allege that Shell knowingly relied on false or misleading factual assertions by witnesses in an effort to prevent the claims from being heard by English courts.
“Shell knew old infrastructure was leaking and needed decommissioning, yet the documents suggest action was delayed because of cost. The response appeared to confirm that the failure to decommission was primarily financial, despite recognition that action was needed to reduce environmental impact and liability. The report also finds that Shell failed to properly decommission the old Nembe Creek Trunk Line after replacing it in 2010. Shell’s claim that oil theft caused most pollution is also weakened by its own documents, which show staff were not properly equipped to tell whether spills were caused by corrosion or third-party interference.
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Leaked internal documents have exposed an estimated $10.9 billion decommissioning and cleanup liability for Shell Plc tied to decades of pollution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, according to a report published on Wednesday by Amnesty International and seven partner organisations. …The report also reveals that Shell exempted its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from key elements of its global health and safety standards so oil could continue flowing through tampered pipelines, even when not deemed safe under Shell’s own safety rules. His trial (alongside other Nigerian defendants such as businessman Aliyu Abubakar, who was implicated as a recipient of Malabu funds) proceeded in Nigeria’s courts. In April 2019, a Nigerian court issued arrest warrants for Etete, Adoke, and a former Minister of Finance (allegedly involved as well), preparatory to formal charges.
This was an approach one senior Shell executive appeared to acknowledge would not be tolerated elsewhere. The report is published by Amnesty International together with The Corner House, Hawkmoth, HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), Recommon and Social Action. But these documents cut through years of denial and raise grave questions about what Shell knew, what it allowed to continue, and whether it then sought to walk away from the costs of its toxic legacy,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria. “Shell has long Spin Rio official blamed oil theft and sabotage for pollution in the Niger Delta. Amnesty International wrote to Shell on 3 July 2026 to share its findings related to the disclosed documents. "The operations of whichever oil operator takes over the relevant pipelines will have an enormous impact on their day-to-day life," Joe Snape, a lawyer at Leigh Day, told the BBC.