Royal Dutch Shell said it was responsible for two oil spills in the Niger Delta and is preparing for the consequences as outlined in Nigerian law. A spokesman for the company said Shell expected the legal process in relation to Nigerian oil spills to take several months.
"(Shell) has always acknowledged that the two spills which affected the Bodo community, and which are the subject of this legal action, were operational," the spokesman was quoted by The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London as saying. "As such, (Shell) will pay compensation in accordance with Nigerian law."
The Bodo community in Nigeria filed a class-action lawsuit in London for an oil spill in the Niger Delta. The community blames Shell for many of the oil spills in the region.
The Bodo suit involves a leak believed to be from a pipeline that dumped crude oil into the Bodo creek for about four months in summer 2008. Shell said it didn't know of the problem for several months.
Shell and other oil companies working in Nigeria blame oil bandits with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta for many spills.
The United Nations estimated that at least 6,800 oil spills occurred in the area from 1976-2001.
