Shell v. Greenpeace

In February 2023, Shell and platform builder Fluor filed a SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace UK, Greenpeace International, and nine activists, after activists peacefully occupied a moving Shell oil platform. That protest saw activists occupy Shell’s Penguins floating production storage and offloading unit for 13 days over January and February 2023. The Penguins platform is the first newly operated vessel for Shell in the northern North Sea in 30 years. At peak production, the project is expected to yield the equivalent of 45,000 barrels of oil per day, and Shell has suggested it could open up further areas for exploration. Initially, Shell claimed $2.1 million in damages over the protests in the North Sea, also calling for an indefinite block on all protests at Shell infrastructure at sea anywhere in the world. In December 2023, in its court filing, Shell reduced its claim to $1 million USD (c£800,000). The lawsuit calls for an indefinite block on all protests at Shell infrastructure anywhere in the world, or the company would make claims that could reach $8.6m (£7m). In December 2024, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace UK agreed with Shell to settle the suit. The Greenpeace defendants faced over $11 million USD in damages and legal costs as a result of the lawsuit. As part of the final settlement, they will accept no liability and pay no money to Shell, instead agreeing to donate £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). They have also agreed to avoid protesting for a period at four Shell sites in the northern North Sea. The Greenpeace defendants have agreed not to travel within 500m of three Shell sites for a period of five years and one Shell site for a period of ten years. All of these sites are in the North Sea.