Shell continued to run the Nembe Creek Trunk Line in Nigeria after its own engineers warned that illegal tapping was leading to regular oil spills. The pipeline, capable of moving up to 150,000 barrels of crude each day, runs close to the town of Bille in Rivers State.

Internal dissent ignored

In 2008 the regional technical vice‑president, Markus Droll, raised concerns to senior managers that keeping the line open made him uncomfortable. His warning was overruled by regional executive vice‑president Ann Pickard, who instructed Droll to label his objection as legally privileged and argued that operating the line presented a lower risk to people and the environment.

Further internal memoranda from 2012 record visits by Shell staff to four known oil‑theft sites near Bille. The documents describe small, fast boats that regularly breach pipelines, siphon crude and sell it on the black market.

Project Madrid and cost‑benefit calculations

In 2013 Shell created a senior‑staff working group called Project Madrid to consider the future of the line. A presentation to the group asked whether staff would feel comfortable continuing production while acknowledging that additional environmental damage would occur. The same presentation listed roughly one hundred illegal refineries on the network and projected shutdown costs of about $194 million in the first year and $389 million if extended into a second year.

That year Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, received an exemption from parts of the company’s global safety and environmental standards. The exemption allowed oil to keep flowing through pipelines that had been identified as needing immediate corrective action or shutdown.

Audits from 2013 show SPDC did not have real‑time leak monitoring across most of its pipeline network; only major ruptures triggered on‑site inspections, leaving many smaller spills undocumented. Amnesty International research found Shell’s response times to spills were slower than required by Nigerian law.

Shell’s internal cost‑benefit model set a shutdown trigger at monthly leaks exceeding 250 barrels. A weekly Crude Oil Theft Decision Review Board, which included senior executives from Shell’s London headquarters, reviewed shutdown decisions, spending plans and risk assessments. The board’s involvement contradicts Shell’s claim that the parent company does not intervene in Nigerian operations.

Legal action and corporate changes

A lawsuit was filed in 2015 by the Bille and Ogale communities alleging that SPDC’s actions caused extensive damage to land, water and livelihoods. Court hearings for the case are scheduled to start in March 2027, and Shell has said it will defend the lawsuit vigorously.

Shell’s spokesperson argued that the documents do not reflect the challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta at the time and that SPDC cooperated with local authorities and communities to remediate spills.

Campaigners are urging the Dutch and UK governments to investigate whether Shell breached financial‑market regulations by claiming compliance with global standards while granting the 2013‑2016 exemption. If violations are proven, Shell could face fines and tighter oversight under EU and UK securities laws.

Sale of SPDC and future liabilities

In 2025 Shell sold SPDC to Renaissance Africa Energy, a Nigerian‑led consortium, for an undisclosed amount. The sale transferred responsibility for decommissioning and cleanup, previously estimated by Shell at $10.9 billion, to the new owners. Renaissance received up to $1.2 billion in loans from Shell to finance the purchase.

Nigeria’s oil regulator expressed concerns about the consortium’s capacity to meet the cleanup liability, but the transaction proceeded after intervention by President Bola Tinubu.

EU trade unions have called for EU‑wide rules requiring multinational extractive firms to disclose any exemptions from internal standards and to fund independent environmental monitoring. Consumer groups argue that cleanup and compensation costs should not be borne by taxpayers or reflected in gasoline prices.

Oil spills continue to pollute water sources, damage fisheries and pose health risks to residents in the Niger Delta, underscoring the ongoing impact of the decisions made over the past decade.