The Nation Newspaper

Tag: shell

  • Reps, NCDMB back Shell’s Global Nigeria Forum

    Reps, NCDMB back Shell’s Global Nigeria Forum

    The House of Representatives Committee on Local Content and the Nigeria Content Develop-ment and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have  supported the yearly Global Nigeria Forum (GNF), an initiative of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the deepwater arm of Shell companies in Nigeria.

    Leaders of the two organisations with other public and private sector players in the oil and gas industry, spoke at the fourth edition of the forum in Aberdeen, Scotland. The theme of the forum was “Enabling competitive local content through sustainable partnerships.’ They described the annual event as worthy of emulation by the country’s local content regulator.

    The forum, Shell spokesperson Bamidele Odugbesan said, is the brainchild of SNEPCo, which aims to strengthen local content in offshore exploration, by opening the opportunity space to Nigerian professionals in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK).

    NCDMB Executive Secretary Mr. Simbi Wabote, who delivered the keynote address, described the annual event as a huge success. “I am happy to see growth in a partnership that has continued to build capacity without compromising standards.”

    House Committee Chairman on Local Content, Mr. Emmanuel Ekong, who led some other members of the national assembly to the forum, proposed the takeover of the organisation of the forum by the NCDMB. According to Ekong, saddling the local content agency with the ownership of GNF will ensure ‘inclusion of other international oil companies for greater impact and access support from the Nigerian parliament’.

    Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Exploration Manager,  Mr. Marcel Amu, said: “This forum is unique and germane, particularly at this time of the low oil price regime, and it aligns with the recent NNPC policy to increase participation of the private sector while attracting the right people with the right technology into the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

    Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) President, Mr. Kashim Ali, pledged his organisation’s continued support to the forum and asked participants to take advantage of COREN’s new accreditation procedure for Nigerian professionals outside the country.

    Reacting to the forum’s endorsement and the successes of the initiative in the last four years, SNEPCo’s Managing Director, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, acknowledged the support of NNPC, NCDMB, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), and the co-venture partners – Total, NAE and Esso – in the strides by SNEPCo.  He called for continued support and collaboration to further unleash the country’s huge deepwater potential to build a better Nigeria with stronger economy for now and the future.

    Ojulari, who was represented by SNEPCo’s Acting General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Mr. Austin Uzoka, said: “Nigeria’s deepwater outlook indicates a high volume of activity in the building of FPSOs and drilling of new high performance wells with cutting edge sixth and seventh generation drilling rigs, delivering unprecedented schedule optimisation. SNEPCo obviously has blazed the trail here and would continue its strive to be the best-in-class deep-water energy company generating top-end employment and boosting local capabilities.

    “As a Nigerian engineer, nothing makes me happier than seeing indigenous vendors and service providers break new grounds and play up to the international stage in engineering and other seemingly complex jobs.”

    At the forum were House Committee Chairman on Finance, Mr. Jones Onyereri; Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora (NIDOE) North UK, Dr. Paul Eke; General Manager for Contracting and Procurement, Shell Nigeria and Gabon, Mr. Antony Ellis; and his counterpart for the UK, Mr. Anthony Makenna

  • Nigerian businesses on Shell entrepreneurship innovation prize list

    Three Nigerian entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for Shell LiveWIRE ‘Top Ten Innovators’, a global competition, which highlights and rewards LiveWIRE businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation.

    The Nigerians have come up with creative ideas on energy efficiency and access to chemical and paint products, and join 22 entrepreneurs from nine countries to vie for the prestigious prize. A public vote of the shortlisted businesses takes place September 1 – 8, 2017, with the results helping to determine the winners.

    “We are pleased at the opportunity for the Nigerians to showcase their talent on the global stage using Shell’s flagship entrepreneurship development programme,” said Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC).

    “SPDC launched the LiveWIRE programme in Nigeria in 2003, providing training, business development services and start-up capital for youth-owned businesses. Our ambassadors have benefited from this support to make their mark and we call on Nigerians to encourage them by voting for their ideas,” he added.

    ‘Top Ten Innovators’ is a worldwide competition open to the alumni of Shell LiveWIRE, a Royal Dutch Shell Social Investment Programme, operating in 15 countries, which enables young people to start their own business and create employment.  The shortlisted entrepreneurs have the chance to win a top prize of $15,000, three Runner-up prizes of $10,000 or six Merit awards of $5,000. The programme aims to create role models for other young entrepreneurs, and demonstrate that introducing innovation supports growth and job creation.

    Shell’s Vice President Social Performance, Joanna Cochrane, said: “Shell LiveWIRE is very important to us because when we help local entrepreneurs to set up businesses, they create long term sources of income for communities, they create jobs and they help to find innovative solutions to social and economic problems.”

    The businesses shortlisted are Nigeria De-rahbs Energy Services, which produces, installs, services and repairs solar energy equipment, and also provides training to future engineers and energy entrepreneurs.

    Others include Nigeria Emobella Engineering Nigeria Limited, which provides engineering services with a USP of 24hours availability and high-quality customer service, and Nigeria Fendwall Paint and Chemical Products, which produces and retails household and commercial paint products via a business model supporting low-income customers to access their products.

    You can vote for the organisation you want to win on the website: http://topteninnovators.shell-livewire.com.

    Since its introduction in Nigeria in 2003, the LiveWIRE programme has trained 6,550 Niger Delta youths in enterprise development and management, and provided business start-up grants to 3,313, Shell spokesperson, Nigeria, Bamidele Odugbesan said.

  • Shell flays illegal occupation of Belema oil facilities

    The illegal occupation of Belema Flow Station and Gas Plant in Rivers State has safety implications both for the people at the facilities and nearby communities, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has warned.

    Since August 11, some persons have camped out day and night at the two facilities.

    In a statement yesterday, SPDC said it was “deeply concerned that unauthorised persons, including women and children, have been observed in close proximity to equipment that process crude oil and gas without the protection of safety clothing that is mandatory for people working in or accessing such restricted areas”.

    SPDC had carried out an emergency shutdown of production ahead of the illegal occupation, but has been unable to access the facilities since then to ensure a safe shutdown over a prolonged period.

    “The continued illegal occupation for many days exposes people at the plant to higher safety risks as anything could trigger a spill or fire with potentially serious consequences,” the company warned.

    SPDC said it was committed to Niger Delta’s growth, especially host communities of Belema and Kula.

    The SPDC JV partners have contributed $29 billion to the economic growth of Nigeria between 2012–2016. The SPDC JV is also supporting various GMoU Cluster Development Boards in the Niger Delta and mentoring NGOs to deploy N7 billion for development projects of host communities’ choice under the GMoU programme.

  • Shell, communities disagree on N600m investments

    Belema and Offoi-Ama communities in Kula, Akuku-Toru Local Government of Rivers State have disagreed with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), on the supposed investment of over N600 million for development of the area.

    Women and elders have been occupying the facility, OML25, since Friday after the host communities shut it down for alleged neglect.

    The women said since Shell had learnt how to manipulate them, they would protest and occupy the place till the Federal Government intervened.

    But General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, said in Port Harcourt the firm was effective in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

     He said SPDC invested the amount, adding that about N352 million was used to improve school infrastructure, sanitation and health outreach programmes, walkways and electricity supply in Kula in the last 10 years.

     Leaders of the communities yesterday dismissed the claims, noting that Shell used divide-and-rule in its operation.

    Chief Tamunomiebi Felix,  chairman of Chiefs and Elders of Belema, said if SPDC had invested the money, the communities would not been in a sorry state.

    He said Shell should divest the oil platform to an indigenous firm, adding that the communities will not allow SPDC to operate the facility.

    Felix said: “Nothing has been done for Belema and Offoi-Ama, which host OML25.

    “Shell just announced it has spent over $1,000,000 at Kula. This claim is laughable because Belema community is in OML25 and Kula community is in OML24 and OML55.

    “It is important to note that SPDC managing director has never visited Kula or Belema community operated by Shell, hence the MD’s lack of understanding as to which community he is trying to address.

     “We are informing Shell that we cannot negotiate with them; we can only negotiate with NNPC, PANDEF and the Presidency, who have the capacity to solve our problem.”

     Chief Ibiosuya Sukubo berated SPDC for the claim, stressing that the communities were not happy.

    He said the people would shut down the facility until SPDC leaves the area.

  • Shell pays $31b to Fed Govt, NDDC

    Shell pays $31b to Fed Govt, NDDC

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has remitted $29.8 billion to the Federation Account and another $1.2 billion to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), between 2002 and 2016, its General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, has said.

    Weli who was reacting to the shutdown of the oil major’s flow station and gas plant in Belema community by angry youths yesterday in Port Harcourt, said the seizure of SPDC’s facilities by the youth will not only send the wrong signal to the international community, but is capable of discouraging further investment in the Niger Delta.

    The youths accused the company of neglecting their community in the provision of infrastructure.

    Weli said contrary to people’s expectations, the company doesn’t have the resources to solve world hunger, although it has added value to Nigeria’s growth in several ways. “People are having high expectations from SPDC, they forget the company is not the government and do not have the resources to solve world hunger.”

    He said SPDC has made several efforts to sensitise the people on how our business is run so that their expectations can be realistic and align with realities of how we run our business.

    “The business we do, add value in several ways through contributions to the Federation Account and the NDDC.

    “Between 2012 and 2016, SPDC JV (joint venture) contributed $29.8 billion to the Federation Account which flows down to the state governments, local governments and to the communities,” he stated.

    Weli  said the company has also set aside three percent of its annual budget to NDDC as its contribution to the development of the region.

    He described the closure of the company’s facility as “worrisome” especially as the company and its partners “have spent millions of naira on human and infrastructure programmes in the communities.

    “If the youths isolate our corporate social responsibility and put all the burden of infrastructure needs on SPDC, then the expectation would not balance,” saying  “in 2016 alone, our contribution to NDDC was $106.8 million. People need to define their expectation; ask themselves if their expectation is realistic and if SPDC is the government.

    “People should express their grievances in a way that follows due process to avoid sending the wrong signal to potential investors about how businesses are treated in our society,” Weli said, adding that though the company had set aside N7 billion for the development of the Niger Delta, the funds are yet to be spent due to restiveness. and litigations affecting the implementation of its social investment drive in the communities.

  • Protesters storm Shell flow station in Rivers

    Protesters storm Shell flow station in Rivers

    Hundreds of Rivers State youths on Friday stormed the Shell-operated Belema Flow Station in the state, demanding jobs and infrastructure development.

    The youths claimed they were not benefiting from oil production in the area.

    The protesters threatened to continue to occupy the flow station until their demands are met.

    The army sent a reinforcement to stop them from going violent.

    Shell decried the action of the youths and denied neglecting the Kula and Belema host communities.

    The oil giant, in a statement, said its commitment to the welfare of host communities in the Niger Delta remains unshaken.

    The company said it “has informed the authorities on the illegal occupation and is working towards resuming safe operations.”

    Shell said that contrary to the claims of the youths it has “implemented a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) in the area that led to a wide variety of social investment projects including university scholarships awards.”

    It added: “the Rivers State Government initiated a mediation process for the resolution of the disagreements in the community, which had resulted in the creation of the Kula Project Implementation and Monitoring Committee (PIMC) in 2012.

    “The PIMC served as an interim platform for the delivery of social investment initiatives and programmes worth N263 million in the Soku-San Berth Project. These projects are separate from the GMoU projects initiated by communities using funds provided by the SPDC JV.

    “A GMoU was eventually signed in 2014 for the Kula Cluster but has not been implemented because of continuing intra-community disagreements. As at 2015, there were a total of 11 court cases involving different groups with SPDC as a co-defendant in all of them.

    “Sadly, these legal suits and disputes have rendered it impossible to implement more planned developmental projects in the affected communities.

    “Notwithstanding that SPDC has divested its equity in OML 24, which covers most of the communities in Kula and Belema. The SPDC JV has continued to implement agreed Social Investment programmes such as scholarship and entrepreneurship schemes for the communities there.”

     

     

  • NNPC eyes $16b from Shell, Chevron deals

    NNPC eyes $16b from Shell, Chevron deals

    Two sets of alternative financing agreements on Joint Venture (JV) projects to boost reserves and production in line with government’s aspiration were executed in London between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two of its JV partners: NNPC/Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) JV and NNPC/Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) JV.

    The two projects are expected to generate incremental revenues of about $16billion within the assets’ life cycle including a flurry of exploratory activities that would generate employment opportunities in the industry, boost gas supply to power and rejuvenate Nigeria’s industrial capacity utilisation.

    The agreement with Chevron would see the development of the NNPC/CNL JV Sonam Project (Project Falcon), hitherto financed through cash calls, to incremental proven and probable oil/liquids reserves of 211million barrels and proven and probable gas reserves of 1.9 trillion cubic feet within in Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 90 and 91.

    The project is expected to begin to bear fruits in next three and six months.

    The  Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said the project is envisaged to achieve an incremental peak production of about 39, 000 barrels per day of liquids and 283million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d) of gas respectively over the life cycle of the asset.

    The JV partner, he said, had already spent $1.5billion representing 97 per cent of project completion costs, adding that the agreement would cover the remaining $780million to complete the project.

    Giving a breakdown of the expected funding requirements of the Sonam Project, Dr. Baru said $400million is to fund the development of seven wells in the Sonam field (OML 91), the Okan 30E Non-Associated Gas (NAG) well (OML 90), and associated facilities including completion of Sonam NAG Well Platform.

    He added that $380million would also be required to reimburse the JV partners for the 2016 portion of the funds committed to lenders that had been cashed and paid for.

    He said the Sonam Project alone, would increase government’s earnings to $7.3billion over its life.

    The agreement with SPDC, on the other hand, would facilitate the development of the NNPC/SPDC JV Project Santolina which comprise 156 development activities across 12 OMLs (OMLs 11, 17, 23, 25, 27, 28, 32, 35, 43, 45, 46 and 79) and 30 different fields in the Niger Delta.

    The GMD said the development of the Sonam Project would be done in two phases, with the first phase focusing on short term activities involving Oil and Gas Generation (STOGG) programme comprising 128 rigless activities and 10 workovers. The second phase would focus on medium term activities that would involve further development of EA/EJA fields by drilling 14 new well and three workover ones.

  • MOSOP to Fed Govt, Shell: cease talks on resuming oil production in Ogoni

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has given the Federal Government and the Anglo/Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), a seven-day ultimatum to cease engagements on resuming oil production in Ogoni.

    It vowed to resist the divide-and-rule tactics of SPDC and the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the oil production arm of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, yesterday at a news conference at its secretariat, off Ken Saro-Wiwa (formerly Stadium) Road, Port Harcourt, declared that their actions could ignite  conflict and violence that would skirt the forceful attempt to return to in Ogoniland’s four local governments of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme.

    Shell was sent packing from Ogoniland in 1993. A renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight activists were hanged at Port Harcourt Prisons on November 10, 1995, during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

    Shell’s spokesman Joe Ollor Obari said: “SPDC stopped oil production in Ogoni in1993 and has no plan to return to oil production there.”

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people said: “In the course of the Ogoni struggle, over 2,000 were killed by the invading military, 14 Ogoni communities were decimated and destroyed, and many Ogoni people fled into exile. Ogoni refugees are still held up in Benin Republic and seek sanctuaries in other parts of the world.

    “In recent months, there had been intense and deliberate attempts by the oil industry to return to Ogoni oilfields through the back door.”

     

     

  • Shell launches health crusade

    The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has launched its first medical outreach at Gidan Mangoro community of Karu in Abuja.

    Over 4,000 people got medical supplies in five primary schools. This is the latest phase of Shell’s Health-in-Motion programme which was rolled out in the Niger Delta in 2005.

    At the opening  of the two-day event in Abuja, SNEPCo Managing Director Bayo Ojulari said the programme aimed at taking free promotive, preventive and curative health services to the hard-to-reach communities.

    He said: “we hope to be able to support the efforts of government at all levels in providing accessible healthcare to the people.”

    Ojulari, represented by Shell’s Regional Community Health Manager, Dr. Akinwumi Fajola, advised against ignoring early signs of health challenge, which could make it difficult for prompt and effective management by medical officers.

    The Minister of Health, represented by Dr.  Adebimpe Adebiyi, praised the initiative, adding that the Federal Government was willing to collaborate with SNEPCo to take the programme to other communities.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Iyke Judith, a widow, said: “My heart is full of joy to know that all the services – eyes screening and glasses; drugs; laboratory tests; everything is free.  I am so happy; may God Almighty bless the company. I believe it is because of me that the company came here because I have been sick for some time now especially after my spinal surgery and had no money to visit the hospital.  This programme has just solved my health issues.”

    About 4,224 persons from the community benefited from various health services including include eye, dental, mass deworming, cardiovascular screenings, HIV & malaria testing and breast and cervical cancer screenings services. Three women were treated with cryotherapy.

    On the spot for early stages of cancer of the cervix while 17 women with breast lumps had free mammograms done. 600 people with impaired vision received reading glasses while those requiring further management were referred to the General Hospital Karu.

    The medical outreach was held in collaboration with the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and had in attendance representative of the FCT Minister, Dr. Mathew Ashikeni; the traditional ruler of Karu, His Royal Highness, Emmanuel Kyauta Yewp; and Chairman of AMAC, Mr. Abdullahi Adamu Candido.

  • Shell’s FLNG begins journey to Australia

    Royal Dutch Shell’s prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility has left the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea to Australia, marking a significant milestone for the project.

    The facility, constructed by Technip Samsung Consortium, is being towed to North West Australia, where the next phase of the project will begin.

    According to Shell, on arrival at the Prelude offshore gas field, 475 kilometres (295 miles) north-north east of Broome, Western Australia, pre-installed mooring chains will be lifted from the seabed and secured to the facility. Once secured, the hook-up and commissioning process will begin.

    Prelude FLNG is an important project in Shell’s portfolio. It will provide liquefied natural gas for customers around the world and generate cash flow that will help drive Shell’s Integrated Gas business performance. The safe and reliable start-up of prelude’s operations will be the project team’s focus throughout the next phase. Cash flow from the project is expected in 2018.