Nigeria fines the country's subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell US$5-billion over the massive Bonga offshore oil field spill in 2011
Dr. Peter Idabor, Director General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) was quoted by local media as announcing the fine against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, reports 'AfriqueJet - Afrique Actualité Information'.
He said the sum was an “administrative penalty” considering the large quantity of crude oil discharged into the environment by SNEPCo and the impact of the incident on the water and aquatic life.
The 40,000 barrels of crude oil that were spilled at Bonga impacted approximately on 950 square kilometres of water surface; affected a great number of sensitive environmental resources across the impacted area and has direct social impact on the livelihood of people in the riverine areas whose primary occupation is fishing, NOSDRA officials said.
According to Idabor, the penalty was also consistent with what obtains in other oil producing countries such as Venezuela, Brazil and the United States of America.
However, Shell has contested the fine, saying it did nothing wrong. The private Vanguard newspaper quoted a spokesman for Shell, Mr Tony Okonedo, as saying: “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.