Economy
UK Court Permits Nigerians to Sue Shell for Pollution Claims
By Adedapo Adesanya
A supreme court in the United Kingdom has ruled that the people of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria can make pollution claims against Anglo-Dutch energy giant, Royal Dutch Shell, in English courts.
The ruling overturned a 2017 decision against the Ogale and Bille communities, who brought legal claims for clean-up and compensation, following decades of repeated spills in the oil-rich region.
The claimants have argued for five years that their case against Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), should be heard in London because they could not expect justice in a Nigerian court.
The UK decision comes two weeks after a court in the Netherlands ordered Shell to compensate Nigerian farmers for oil spills on land in two villages in the Niger Delta after 13 years of legal battles.
Shell Nigeria must compensate the farmers for the losses they suffered due to the oil spills, in the two villages of Goi and Oruma in 2004 and 2005. The court also added that Shell hadn’t done enough to clean up the spills.
Also, six years ago, Shell agreed to pay out £55 million ($83.4 million) to the Bodo community in Nigeria in compensation for two oil spills, which was the largest ever out-of-court settlement relating to Nigerian oil spills.
In their judgment, five judges at Britain’s highest court said the previous decision by the lower court of appeal was a “material error of law” and focused too narrowly on the relationship between Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary.
Shell had argued it could not be held legally responsible for the pollution in the region in southern Nigeria and so the cases should not be heard in England.
Speaking on this, Mr Daniel Leader, from London law firm, Leigh Day, which represents the claimants said, “This Supreme Court judgment gives real hope to the people of Ogale and Bille who have been asking Shell to clean up their oil for years.”
He said he hoped the decision would lead to action from Shell and called the ruling a “watershed moment” to bring multinational companies to account.
“Increasingly impoverished communities are seeking to hold powerful corporate actors to account and this judgment will significantly increase their ability to do so,” he added.
Reacting, Shell said it was disappointed with the ruling. The energy giant has blamed sabotage for oil spills and says crude oil spills caused by theft surged by 41 per cent in 2019.
“Regardless of the cause of a spill, SPDC cleans up and remediates. It also works hard to prevent these sabotage spills, by using technology, increasing surveillance and by promoting alternative livelihoods for those who might damage pipes and equipment,” Shell said in a statement.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Strong appetite for unlisted stocks further raised the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.22 per cent on Friday, February 27.
Data revealed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) was up by 49.41 points to 4,083.87 points from 4,034.46 points, and lifted the market capitalisation by N19.56 billion to N2.433 trillion from N2.413 trillion.
The volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 243.0 per cent to 4.5 million units from 1.3 million units, and the number of deals grew by 15.8 per cent to 44 deals from 38 deals, while the value of securities went down by 19.7 per cent to N82.5 million from N102.8 million.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 35.0 million units valued at N2.1 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units worth N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.8 million units transacted for N480.4 million.
Resourcery Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.05 billion units sold for N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.8 million units valued at N480.4 million, and CSCS Plc with 35.0 million units traded for N2.1 billion.
There were six price gainers yesterday led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N9.02 to close at N111.46 per unui compared with the previous day’s N102.44 per unit, Nipco Plc appreciated by N6.00 to N284.00 per share from N278.00 per share, CSCS Plc recouped N1.87 to sell at N70.12 per unit versus Thursday’s value of N68.25 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 17 Kobo to close at N3.18 per share versus N3.01 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc advanced by 5 Kobo to sell at N50 Kobo per unit versus the preceding day’s 45 Kobo per unit, and Acorn Petroleum Plc chalked up 2 Kobo to settle at N1.34 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N1.32 per share.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira performed poorly against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on February 27, closing the week without a gain.
In the black market, the domestic currency weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N5 to close at N1,370/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,365/$1, and at the GT Bank forex desk, it lost N2 to sell N1,369/$1 versus the N1,367/$1 it was sold a day earlier.
Yesterday, the Nigerian Naira lost N3.75 or 0.26 per cent against the greenback at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to trade at N1,363.39/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,359.82/$1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the Euro at the official market during the session by N2.33 to quote at N1,609.22/€1 versus N1,606.89/€1, and appreciated against the Pound Sterling by N6.74 to settle at N1,836.49/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,843.23/£1.
The Naira’s latest depreciation occurred as FX demand continued to outpace available supply, intensifying pressure in the market.
In response to the negative momentum, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened by selling Dollars to banks and other authorised dealers in an effort to stabilise the local currency. The move came barely a week after the apex bank had purchased about $190 million from the foreign exchange market to temper the Naira’s rally.
Specifically, the CBN injected $200 million into the official market between Tuesday and Wednesday through an intervention call. However, the liquidity support proved insufficient to reverse the currency’s downward trend.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market declined on Friday, with Solana (SOL) down by 10.4 per cent to $78.60, as Dogecoin (DOGE) decreased by 9.5 per cent to $0.0982.
Further, Cardano (ADA) slumped 8.9 per cent to $0.2647, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 8.6 per cent to $1,859.10, Ripple (XRP) shrank by 8.2 per cent to $1.30, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.4 per cent to close at $52.39, Bitcoin (BTC) slid 5.9 per cent to $63,686.39, and Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 4.9 per cent to $596.64, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose about 2 per cent on Friday, with traders bracing for supply disruptions as nuclear talks between the United States and Iran were without an agreement.
Brent crude futures settled at $72.48 a barrel after chalking up $1.73 or 2.45 per cent, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $67.02 a barrel, up $1.81 or 2.78 per cent.
The two sides agreed to extend indirect negotiations into next week, but traders grew sceptical that an agreement between US President Donald Trump’s administration and Iran was possible.
The US and Iran held indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday after Mr Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.
Oil prices gained during the talks, on media reports indicating that discussions had stalled over U.S. insistence on zero enrichment of uranium by Iran. However, prices eased after the mediator from Oman said the two sides had made progress.
They plan to resume negotiations with technical-level discussions scheduled next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said on X.
Market analysts noted that geopolitical risk premiums of $8 to $10 a barrel have been built into oil prices on fears that a conflict will disrupt Middle East supply through the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20 per cent of global oil supply passes.
To cushion the impact from a possible strike, one of the world’s largest oil producers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is set to export more of its flagship Murban crude in April, while Saudi Arabia said it would also increase oil production.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia may raise its April crude price to Asia for the first time in five months due to higher demand from India to replace Russian supplies, potentially raising it by about $1 a barrel.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) is likely to consider raising oil output by 137,000 barrels per day for April at its March 1 meeting, after suspending production increases in the first quarter.
The resumption of output increases after a three-month pause would allow Saudi Arabia and the UAE to regain market share at a time when other OPEC+ members, such as Russia and Iran, contend with Western sanctions while Kazakhstan recovers from a series of oil production setbacks.
Eight OPEC+ producers – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman will meet at the meeting on Sunday.
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