Internal documents reveal Shell continued operating a heavily polluted pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta for years, ignoring staff warnings and environmental risks.

Internal documents disclosed in a UK court case have revealed that Shell, one of the world’s largest oil companies, kept the Nembe Creek Trunk Line in Nigeria’s Niger Delta operational for years despite repeated warnings from its own staff about extensive oil theft and environmental damage. The pipeline, which carries up to 150,000 barrels of oil daily, was linked to significant oil spills and pollution in the region. The revelations have sparked renewed scrutiny of Shell’s environmental practices and decision-making processes.

The documents, analyzed in a report by Amnesty International and several partner organizations, show that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), was exempted from parts of the company’s global safety standards in 2013. This exemption allowed oil to continue flowing through the pipeline, even though internal communications acknowledged the need for immediate corrective action or a complete shutdown. Concerns about the pipeline date back to at least 2008, when a senior technical executive expressed discomfort with its continued operation, only to be overruled by higher management.

The report highlights that Shell’s decision to keep the pipeline running was influenced by financial considerations. Shutting down the pipeline was estimated to cost the company $194 million (€167 million) in the first year alone. Despite acknowledging the environmental damage caused by oil theft and illegal refineries along the pipeline, Shell set a threshold of 250 barrels of oil spilled per month before considering a shutdown. Internal audits also revealed that SPDC lacked real-time leak monitoring across much of its network, raising doubts about the company’s ability to track and respond to spills effectively.

While the case primarily concerns Shell’s operations in Nigeria, the revelations have broader implications for the company’s global reputation and regulatory compliance. Campaigners are urging Dutch and UK authorities to investigate whether Shell violated financial market rules by misrepresenting its adherence to environmental standards. Although the events occurred outside Germany, the case underscores the importance of holding multinational corporations accountable for their environmental impact, a topic of growing relevance in Germany’s own energy and environmental policy debates.