Internal Shell documents disclosed in a United Kingdom court case have exposed what rights groups describe as years of neglected infrastructure, weak environmental oversight and attempts to minimise the cost of pollution in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, raising fresh questions over the company’s environmental record before its exit from the country’s onshore oil business.
The findings are contained in a new report, Nigeria: Lifting the Lid, published recently by Amnesty International and seven environmental and human rights organisations.
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The report analyses confidential Shell emails, technical audits, presentations and internal reviews disclosed during ongoing legal proceedings in the UK.
It alleges that Shell knew of serious integrity failures in its pipelines and oil wells, exempted its Nigerian subsidiary from some internal safety standards, and delayed decommissioning ageing facilities despite acknowledging the environmental risks.
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The revelations come barely a year after Shell completed the sale of its former onshore subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to Renaissance Africa Energy, a transaction that drew widespread concerns from environmental campaigners over responsibility for decades of oil pollution across the Niger Delta.
The report also follows years of litigation brought by affected Nigerian communities against Shell in European courts over pollution connected to its operations.
Pipeline described as ‘a basket’
Among the most striking disclosures is an internal email describing the old Nembe Creek Trunk Line as “a basket” because of its deteriorating condition.
PREMIUM Times had reported that the 96.5-kilometre Nembe Creek Trunk Line runs near the riverine Bille community—a cluster of 45 islands—connecting inland oilfields to export terminals.
This newspaper reported that the pipeline was among the company’s largest oil transport infrastructure assets in Nigeria, with the capacity to transport about 150,000 barrels of crude daily. However, it repeatedly suffered leaks, vandalism and crude oil theft.
A recent visit by PREMIUM TIMES to the Bille community showed residents grappling with new environmental concerns, including reports of subterranean emissions of toxic gases within residential areas and surrounding waterways.
According to the report, although Shell replaced the pipeline in 2010, about 80 kilometres of the old line remained filled with stagnant crude oil years later because the company allegedly lacked funds to decommission it properly.
The documents indicate that the abandoned pipeline recorded at least six operational spills after its replacement, while Shell staff warned internally that additional spills were inevitable unless urgent action was taken.
The report alleges that the company continued oil production despite recognising the environmental dangers posed by the deteriorating infrastructure.
It also cites internal discussions showing Shell managers questioned whether the company should continue producing while “knowing that further environmental damage will occur”.
Missing wells, weak monitoring
The report further alleges that Shell could not account for hundreds of oil wells within its Nigerian operations.
According to the report, an internal report submitted to the company’s then Chief Executive Officer in 2014 showed that hundreds of onshore wells were either missing from Shell’s electronic tracking system or their condition could not be verified.
PREMIUM TIMES recently reported calls from Niger Delta groups demanding an audit of abandoned oil wells in the Niger Delta describing them as a time bomb that poses threats to lives, ecosystem and public health.
The report says Shell subsequently launched what it called a “well hunt campaign,” which uncovered about 750 overdue maintenance tasks that contributed to an unsatisfactory audit assessment.
The documents also indicate that Shell lacked real-time pipeline monitoring systems capable of detecting smaller leaks before they caused extensive environmental damage.
The report stated that internal technical reviews further found that pipelines intended for replacement every 15 years remained in service far beyond their design life, with maintenance largely relying on responding to failures after they occurred rather than on preventive replacement.
The report also alleges that more than 1,600 pipeline clamps had been installed across Shell’s network, including numerous older clamps whose precise locations could no longer be identified.
Questions over oil theft narrative
For years, Shell has maintained that the overwhelming majority of oil spills in the Niger Delta resulted from sabotage, crude oil theft and illegal refining.
However, Amnesty International argues that the newly disclosed documents complicate that narrative.
According to the report, senior Shell officials acknowledged that illegal tapping points on pipelines were sometimes left in place because removing them would require shutting down oil production.
One internal communication cited in the report said the Nigerian security agency responsible for pipeline protection accused Shell of being “complicit” in oil theft because illegal connections were not promptly removed.
The report also alleges that Shell executives suspected some company staff and contractors could have been involved in organised oil theft.
Rights groups further argue that Shell’s own documents raise questions about the reliability of oil spill investigations, alleging that company personnel often lacked adequate equipment to distinguish between operational failures and third-party interference.
That distinction carries major legal consequences because the Nigerian National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency Act (2006) generally provides compensation to affected communities only where spills are classified as operational failures rather than sabotage.
$10.9 billion decommissioning estimate
One of the most financially significant disclosures is an internal estimate placing the cost of decommissioning Shell’s onshore assets at $10.9 billion, excluding environmental remediation.
The report says another internal presentation identified approximately 375 square kilometres of mangrove forest affected by pollution and questioned whether the company had the “appetite” to deal with the open-ended environmental liability.
The rights groups argue that Shell’s divestment should not relieve it of responsibility for pollution accumulated during decades of oil production.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that an independent international panel estimated cleaning up oil pollution caused by Shell and Eni operations in Bayelsa State alone could cost about $12 billion.
Nigeria’s decommissioning framework places the legal responsibility for end-of-life oil and gas infrastructure squarely on licensees and lessees, requiring them to plan and finance decommissioning long before production ceases.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Decommissioning and Abandonment Regulations, 2026, made pursuant to Sections 232 and 233 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, establish a dedicated Decommissioning and Abandonment Fund for every upstream licence or lease.
The regulations require operators to make annual contributions to the fund based on an approved Decommissioning and Abandonment Plan, while the fund may be used only for approved decommissioning and abandonment activities.
Regulations 19 to 22 specifically govern the establishment of the fund, annual contributions, utilisation and reporting requirements, ensuring that operators set aside sufficient resources to cover future liabilities rather than leaving the burden to the government or host communities.
Given Amnesty International’s claim that Shell’s internal documents estimated a $10.9 billion decommissioning liability before the company divested its onshore assets, the disclosure raises questions about whether adequate financial provisions were made and whether the decommissioning fund required under Nigeria’s legal framework is sufficient to address the environmental legacy associated with those assets.
The regulations were specifically designed to prevent operators from exiting oilfields without securing the funds needed to safely decommission infrastructure and remediate environmental damage.
Amnesty, partners demand accountability
Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi said the documents undermine years of public assurances by the oil giant.
“Shell has long blamed oil theft and sabotage for pollution in the Niger Delta. 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,” Mr Sanusi said.
He added that the findings suggest Shell accepted environmental damage that “would not have been tolerated elsewhere.”
Chairman of HEDA Resource Centre, Olanrewaju Suraju, said communities deserved “truth, justice, clean-up and full remedy” after decades of environmental degradation.
The report was jointly produced by Amnesty International, The Corner House, Hawkmoth, HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative, Recommon and Social Action.
The organisations called on the Nigerian government to strengthen regulation of the petroleum industry, conduct accessible audits of ageing oil infrastructure and establish a dedicated Niger Delta environmental clean-up fund.
Shell rejects allegations
Amnesty International said it shared its findings with Shell before publication.
Responding, Shell rejected the characterisation contained in the report. “The characterisation and portrayal of Shell in your letter is not one we recognise,” the company said in a response reproduced in the report.
“Shell is committed to honesty, integrity and respect for people, and to conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner.”
The company added that the allegations failed to reflect “the challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta at the time.”
Long history of pollution claims
The latest report adds to growing international scrutiny of Shell’s environmental record in Nigeria.
PREMIUM TIMES previously reported that Shell agreed in late 2022 to pay $16 million to four Nigerian farmers and their communities over pollution connected to pipeline leaks that occurred between 2004 and 2007 in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states after years of litigation in Dutch courts.
This newspaper also reported that Shell agreed to spend at least $115 million to reduce harmful industrial emissions at its refinery and chemical complex in Deer Park, Texas, after admitting violations of the United States Clean Air Act.
Meanwhile, the long-running legal battle brought by the Ogale and Bille communities against Shell over oil pollution continues before UK courts, with the Bille case scheduled for trial in March 2027.
