Nigeria: Shell documents expose ‘basket’ pipeline, ‘missing’ wells and US$10.9bn decommissioning costs as pollution scandal grows Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Shell must answer for decades of pollution in the Niger Delta after internal company documents revealed broken rules, failing infrastructure and unresolved clean-up costs that risk leaving affected communities to pay the price, a coalition of human rights and environmental organisations, including Amnesty International, said today in a new report. The report, Nigeria: Lifting the Lid, analyses internal Shell emails, audits, presentations and confidential reviews disclosed in UK legal proceedings, revealing a wider human rights scandal than previously reported. While Shell presented its operations as meeting global standards, the documents point to concerns raised by the Nigerian army over alleged complicity in oil theft, suspected staff and contractor collusion, exemptions from safety standards, chronic neglect of known pipeline integrity risks, missing well data, weak leak detection and flawed spill monitoring. Shell knew the risks from ageing and leaking infrastructure, including an old pipeline internally described as “a basket” [case], yet kept oil flowing. It later decided to divest its onshore business rather than face the enormous cost of clean-up and decommissioning, including an internal US$10.9 billion decommissioning estimate. A separate internal presentation stated that 375km² of mangrove forest had been harmed by pollution. Amnesty International wrote to Shell on 3 July 2026 to share its findings related to the disclosed documents. In response to Amnesty’s report, Shell wrote that: “The characterisation and portrayal of Shell in your letter is not one we recognise. Shell is committed to honesty, integrity and respect for people, and to conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner.” Shell says that the findings do not reflect the “challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta at the time”. Their full response is included in the report. “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,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria. “The scandal was not simply illegal ‘bunkering’ or oil theft. The real scandal is Shell’s pursuit of profit at the expense of people’s rights. Shell was willing to accept further environmental damage in Nigeria that would not have been tolerated elsewhere, and years of public denial are now challenged by its own documents.” The real scandal is Shell’s pursuit of profit at the expense of people’s rights. Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria The report is published by Amnesty International together with The Corner House, Hawkmoth, HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), Recommon and Social Action. For affected communities, the findings confirm what many have said for decades: oil pollution has damaged water, farmland, fisheries, health and livelihoods, while companies continued to profit and deny responsibility. “Shell cannot be allowed to take the oil, take the profits and leave the pollution behind. Communities in the Niger Delta deserve truth, justice, clean-up and full remedy,” said Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman of the HEDA Resource Centre, a Nigerian governance and environmental justice NGO. Concerns over role in oil theft, broken rules and failing infrastructure The documents show that even while Shell blamed criminal gangs for oil theft, senior staff allowed illegal taps to remain on pipelines because removing them would “take considerable system downtime”, meaning the temporary suspension of profitable crude oil flows. One senior Shell manager wrote in 2013 that this had led the Nigerian security force responsible for pipeline security to accuse Shell of being “complicit” in oil theft “because we are not removing the bunkering points.” A Shell presentation that year, referring to the effects of the illegal tapping, asked: “are we comfortable to continue producing, KNOWING that further environmental damage WILL occur?” The report also reveals that Shell exempted its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from key elements of its global health and safety standards so oil could continue flowing through tampered pipelines, even when not deemed safe under Shell’s own safety rules. This was an approach one senior Shell executive appeared to acknowledge would not be tolerated elsewhere. Internal documents additionally show Shell executives suspected staff and contractors may have been involved in oil theft, with one email warning: “we have to work on the assumption that the bunkerers get good access to SPDC planning data.” Internal audits further exposed serious weaknesses in Shell’s pipeline management, including a major maintenance backlog, weak oversight systems, and poor records on pipeline clamps that Shell had allowed to become permanent repairs on leaking pipelines. More than 1,600 clamps were registered, including older clamps whose locations were unknown. A 2012 technical review also found that SPDC flowlines were supposed to be replaced every 15 years, but this was “not being followed” and only “breakdown maintenance” was being applied. Shell cannot be allowed to take the oil, take the profits and leave the pollution behind. Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman of the HEDA Resource Centre ‘Missing’ oil wells, weak monitoring and flawed spill monitoring An internal report in 2014 to Shell’s then CEO said there were “hundreds” of SPDC onshore wells that were either missing from its electronic well-tracking system or whose condition could not be verified. Shell later launched a “well hunt campaign”, which identified 750 overdue maintenance tasks that contributed to an “unsatisfactory” audit rating. A 2013 report also found that SPDC’s pipelines had no real-time monitoring system, despite the fact that quickly detecting spills and limiting contamination is key to reducing pollution. Without such monitoring, anything short of a major rupture could go unnoticed. “A fossil fuel giant that could not verify the location and integrity of hundreds of wells and pipeline clamps, and lacked effective leak detection, cannot credibly claim it had pollution under control. Shell must stop deflecting blame,” said Dr Emem Okon from Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, a Nigeria-based group promoting women’s
