LONDON (Reuters) – Shell has suspended plans to sell its onshore oil assets in Nigeria until the outcome of an appeal to a Supreme Court ruling over a 2019 oil spill, it said on Thursday.
“Shell welcomes the Nigerian Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) in this case,” the London-based company said in a statement.
“Until the outcome of SPDC’s appeal, Shell will not progress the divestment of its interest in SPDC.”
Nigeria’s Supreme Court on June 16 upheld a lower court ruling that stopped Shell from selling its assets in Nigeria until a dispute over a lower court decision to award a Niger Delta community $1.95 billion in compensation over the spill is resolved.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Jan Harvey)