Pipeline
26 cases in 20 countries, 1994–2026. Most cases: United States (11), Russia (4), China (2), Netherlands (2), Canada (2).
North Dakota judge cancels Summit Carbon Solutions storage permit
A North Dakota judge cancelled Summit Carbon Solutions' storage permit for its CO2 pipeline, and Iowa farmers call the pipeline a pipeline to nowhere. The cited sources do not say what the cancellation means for the route or for nature.
EACOP pipeline: insurers decline, construction continues
Campaign groups counted about 30 insurers and reinsurers that publicly ruled out covering the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Uganda's insurance regulator said a local consortium insures it, and by September 2026 about 98% of the line was reported built.
Shell Nigeria pipeline spill ruling (Hague Court of Appeal, 2021)
On 29 January 2021 the Hague Court of Appeal held Shell Nigeria liable for damage from leaks in oil pipelines at Oruma and Goi. The matter was settled in December 2022 for €15 million, without an admission of liability.
Ruby River seeks $588m-$1bn from Canada over rejected Québec LNG plant
Ruby River Capital, a Delaware-registered company, is pursuing an investor-state claim against Canada after Québec and Ottawa rejected the GNL Québec liquefied natural gas plant and its pipeline in Saguenay. The Canadian government page gives the claim as $588.14 million, while other sources give $1.004 billion.
Satartia CO2 pipeline rupture (Mississippi)
On 22 February 2020 a landslide ruptured a carbon dioxide pipeline near Satartia, Mississippi. More than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 were taken to hospital.
Venezuela coastal oil spills: Golfete de Coro (2020) and Lechería (2022)
PDVSA acknowledged a crude leak on the Ulé–Amuay pipeline near the Golfete de Coro in September 2020, and oil slicks closed several beaches at Lechería, Anzoátegui, in December 2022. No volume, cost or compensation is on record for either event.
ExxonMobil completes USD 4.9 billion purchase of Denbury CO2 pipelines
ExxonMobil bought Denbury, which operated more than 1,300 miles of CO2 pipeline, for USD 4.9 billion in November 2023. The pipelines feed enhanced oil recovery, which injects CO2 to push more oil out of ageing fields, and the cited sources do not show how much of that carbon stays underground.
Samir Flores killing and the Huexca power plant
Samir Flores Soberanes was killed on 20 February 2019 in Amilcingo, Morelos, days before the federal consultation on a state-owned power plant and gas pipeline he opposed. The only suspect was acquitted in March 2026.
Trans Mountain pipeline insurers (Canada)
Trans Mountain, an oil pipeline owned by the Government of Canada, lost a series of private insurers between 2019 and 2022. In 2021 the regulator allowed the names of its insurers to be kept confidential, and a 2024 regulation allowed the Crown corporation to set up its own insurer.
Bayou Bridge pipeline arrests (Louisiana)
Sixteen protesters and one journalist were arrested at several events in 2018, beginning soon after Louisiana's critical-infrastructure trespass law took effect on 1 August. In July 2021 the district attorney said he would not prosecute them. A court challenge to the law failed and the law remains in force.
Niger–Benin crude export pipeline (WAPCO): financing, land compensation and the June 2024 sabotage spill
The WAPCO pipeline carries Niger's crude from the Agadem block to Benin's coast, financed by CNPC's finance arm. Niger's impact study identified forest and wetland impacts, Benin paid land compensation under a 2020 law, and a sabotage in June 2024 left a crude slick over more than 370 metres in Zinder region.
Energy Transfer v Greenpeace (Dakota Access)
Energy Transfer sued Greenpeace entities over protests against the Dakota Access pipeline. A North Dakota jury awarded about $666.9 million in March 2025, the judge cut the award to about $345 million, and Greenpeace International sued Energy Transfer in Amsterdam under the EU anti-SLAPP directive.
Refugio / Plains Line 901 oil spill (California)
A Plains All American pipeline released 2,934 barrels of oil in Santa Barbara County, California, in May 2015, 598 of them into the Pacific. Plains reported total costs of $870 million and lost an insurance arbitration in January 2025 over a $230 million class action settlement.
North Sea platform decommissioning tax relief (UK)
UK tax law lets oil and gas operators recover part of the cost of dismantling North Sea platforms. The regulator estimated the remaining cost to the Exchequer at GBP 10.8 billion.
Consultant ERM wrote the Keystone XL environmental impact statement
ERM, a consulting firm, wrote the environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline for the US State Department. It was alleged that ERM did not disclose earlier work for TransCanada, and the cited sources do not establish that the conflict changed the review’s findings.
Lukoil-Komi oil spills in the Usinsk area and the Kolva River, 2011–2023, damage claims and payments
Spills from Lukoil-Komi pipelines in the Usinsk area of the Komi Republic and on the Kolva River led to a RUB 615 million land-damage claim that was annulled on jurisdiction grounds, and to voluntary payments after the May 2021 Kolva spill reported as RUB 374,186,000 for water and RUB 130,069,000 for soil.
Enbridge Line 6B oil spill, Marshall, Michigan
An oil spill from Enbridge's Line 6B pipeline was recorded at Marshall, Michigan, on 25–26 July 2010. Insurers paid $547 million of a $650 million aggregate limit against a recorded total cost of $1.215 billion, and the company lost an arbitration against one insurer in 2017.
Crude-oil pipeline spills into Khuzestan rivers: Karkheh 2009 and Marun 2025
A pipeline rupture in February 2009 contaminated about 90 to more than 100 km of the Karkheh River and cut drinking-water supply to several towns; the Department of Environment said the Oil Ministry would not be fined. In May 2025 a crude line crossing the Marun River ruptured, and the Khuzestan Department of Environment demanded repairs and compensation from the National Iranian South Oil Company.
Tobacco groups' diversification into oil, food and shipping
Several large tobacco groups are reported to have owned oil, food, packaging and shipping businesses. The filings reviewed document the board roles of one Loews family member across insurance, pipeline and offshore-drilling companies.
Sakhalin-2: 2006 approval revocation, Gazprom stake purchase, 2009 damage-claim settlement and lender exits
In September 2006 Russian authorities moved to cancel the environmental approval of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project; on 21 December 2006 Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi signed a protocol for Gazprom to take 50% plus one share for USD 7.45 billion. A claim of RUB 390 million was settled in July 2009 by counting RUB 647 million of company environmental spending.
ESPO oil pipeline rerouted away from the Baikal shore (2006)
On 26 April 2006 President Vladimir Putin ordered Transneft to move the East Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline north of the Lake Baikal catchment, after a route about 800 m from the northern shore had received a positive state ecological expertise conclusion. Putin later put the extra cost at an additional $1 billion.
Chad–Cameroon pipeline and Doba oil fields: World Bank conditions, revenue law, Inspection Panel and 2023 nationalisation
The World Bank Group helped finance the Doba oil fields and the Chad–Cameroon export pipeline on conditions covering environmental safeguards and the use of oil revenue. Chad repaid its World Bank balances early in 2008, and in 2023 nationalised the assets ExxonMobil had agreed to sell to Savannah Energy for US$407 million.
Nature Conservancy gas drilling on Texas City Prairie Preserve
The Nature Conservancy drilled for gas on a Texas prairie that Mobil Oil had donated in 1995 and that was the last wild breeding area of the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken. The Washington Post reported in 2003 that the well earned about $8 million by January 2002 while the number of nesting birds fell.
Usinsk pipeline spill (Komi, 1994) and the World Bank and EBRD emergency loans
Repeated failures of the Kharyaga–Usinsk oil pipeline in the Komi Republic in 1994 released oil into bogs, creeks and the Kolva River. The World Bank lent US$99 million and the EBRD US$25 million to the Russian Federation, on-lent to the pipeline operator Komineft; published estimates of the volume spilled differ widely.
Standing Rock / Dakota Access: arrests, TigerSwan and the Greenpeace damages award
Law enforcement counted 761 arrests during the Dakota Access pipeline protests at Standing Rock; the Water Protector Legal Collective counted 841 prosecutions. A private security firm described the movement in leaked documents as an insurgency, and a North Dakota jury later awarded the pipeline developer damages against Greenpeace entities.
Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline suffered 1,500 attacks in 30 years
Attacks on Colombia's Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline over 30 years released about 3.5 million barrels of oil, according to Portafolio. The cited sources do not describe the land or waters affected.