The Nation Newspaper

Tag: shell

  • Shell, community feud threatens crude export

    Crude oil export from Shell Petroleum Development Company’s facilities in Bayelsa State could be jeopardised from next month.

    The people of Amazor community in Ekeremor Local Government have ordered the company to remove the strategic Trans Ramos pipeline from their land.

    The Nation gathered that the initial 20-year lease for the facility, which conveys crude from Shell’s Brass Creek field to Forcados Terminal for export, has expired and the people are unwilling to renew the lease.

    Twenty five of the community’s elders, youths and women leaders have warned that they could no longer guarantee the safety of the 24″ pipeline in their community.

    A fresh quit notice, which expires on June 30, has been dispatched to the Minister of Petroleum Resources and General Manager of SPDC.

    The community leaders said they would tackle the company afterwards unless the pipeline is uprooted and evacuated.

    A copy of the letter slammed Shell as a bad tenant “who challenges the lordship of his landlord”.

  • Shell to invest in promising technology firms

    Royal Dutch Shell is ready to invest millions of dollars in emerging technology companies to accelerate the deployment of innovations that add value to the company’s operations, its Executive Vice President Innovation, Research & Development (R&D) and Shell Chief Technology Officer, Gerald Schotman, has said.

    From smarter exploration processes to enhanced extraction techniques, he said, Shell’s corporate venturing arm Shell Technology Ventures would make investments over the next six to eight years.

    Schotman said: “Ideas from outside the organisation are critical to our open innovation approach to R&D. We want to enable the brightest and the best to develop their ideas, and benefit from Shell’s expertise and global reach, so that we can get these technologies up and running in our projects as fast as we can.”

    A statement from Shell said the company is looking forward to investing in technology spin-outs and externally-managed venture capital funds. The company said it will look at areas including gas production and conversion; geophysical imaging; chemical manufacturing and conversion; novel materials; enhanced oil recovery; and water treatment. It will also look at various aspects of information technology (Big Data); oil and gas wells drilling and completion; sub-surface sensing; production in challenging environments; operational efficiency; and future energy technologies will also be sought.

    Partners according to the statement, may be granted access to Shell’s technical experts, its global research capability and its customer, supplier and contractor base. Shell may also look to enable field trials where appropriate and serve as a launching customer for these new technologies. Itc asked companies to submit their proposals via the process as set out at www.shell.com/techventures.

    Shell Technology Ventures Director, Geert van de Wouw, said: “We are looking to develop long-term mutually, beneficial partnerships with emerging technology companies, venture capital firms and corporate venturing organisations. A good example of where this is working is our investment in GlassPoint Solar Inc. Their pilot plant in the Middle East taps heat from the sun to generate steam for enhanced oil recovery. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) contracted GlassPoint to build the plant, which is currently being tested.”

    Shell Technology Ventures is the corporate venturing arm of Shell and follows the existing Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1, which is managed by independent Kenda Capital. Kenda will continue to commercialise its existing portfolio of oil and gas technology investments, the report said.

  • Shell to shut Nembe Creek pipeline

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) will temporarily shut its Nembe Creek Trunkline for nine days to enable it repair the damage caused by oil thieves.

    The damage has led to a cut of about 150,000 barrels per day, the company said yesterday.

    The pipeline has been hit by vandals. Oil theft has been estimated as costing the country about $6 billion per year.

    “We plan to shut it down this month to remove some bunkering points,” said SDPC spokesman Precious Okolobo.

    “In April, we will shut down the entire NCTL for a nine-day period to remove a number of bunkering points, which of course is a massive deferment of oil but needs to be done,” said Jurgen Jonzen, SPDC corporate pipeline asset manager also said.

     

  • Govt may lose $141.8m as Shell plans to shut pipeline

    Govt may lose $141.8m as Shell plans to shut pipeline

    THE Federal Government may lose $15.75 million daily for weeks in April as the Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) plans to shut the 150,000 barrel per day Nembe Creek Trunk Line next month.

    If the pipeline is shut, the government would be losing revenues in excess of $15.75 million daily at the current crude price of $105.65 per barrel.

    The spokesman of SPDC, Precious Okolobo who confirmed this, however, noted that a final decision on this has not been made, but the fundamental reason is to check crude theft points.

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigerian joint-venture plans to shut the 150,000-barrel-a-day Nembe Creek oil pipeline temporarily in April to clear illegal oil tappings.

    The shut down, which illustrates the deepening impact of oil theft on the industry, is Shell’s response to increasing numbers of illegal connections designed to steal oil from the pipeline, said Jurgen Janzen, a Pipelines Asset Manager at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at a briefing with reporters in Port Harcourt.

    “In April, we will shut down the entire Nembe Creek Trunk Line to remove tapping points, for an estimated nine days,” he said.

    The pipeline, located in the Eastern part of the Niger Delta, ferries 150,000 barrels of crude oil owned by SPDC, but a spokesman said it is also used by third parties.

    SPDC is a joint venture between Shell, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., France’s Total SA (TOT) and Italy’s Eni SpA (E).

    Janzen said the joint-venture is losing 60,000 barrels daily to oil theft, an increase from 50,000 barrels daily previously. “Since the beginning of this year, it’s going up again. There are at least 90 illegal tappings still in the system now that we are aware of,” he added.

    The increased illegal trade has triggered fears of a new environmental disaster in the Delta. During a flyover of parts of the Nembe pipeline provided by Shell for reporters last week, a large cluster of illegal refineries processing stolen oil could be seen. Neighbouring soil and waterways were dark from the oil residue produced by the makeshift facilities.

    Janzen said the illegal refineries are so inefficient that 70 per cent of their oil is wasted and ends up contaminatingthe environment.

    Also, Shell lifted Force Majeure on Nigerian Bonny Crude Exports

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) ended curbs on crude exports from its Bonny oil terminal in Nigeria after repairs were completed following a leak on its Nembe Creek pipeline, a company spokesman said.

    Force Majeure, a legal step that protects a company from liability when it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control, was lifted from 4 p.m. on March 19, Precious Okolobo, a Shell spokesman said by phone from the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt.

    “Investigation showed that the leak was caused by a failed theft point on the pipeline,” he said.

     

  • Group tasks FG on oil theft, illegal refineries

    Group tasks FG on oil theft, illegal refineries

    Shareholders Alliance for Corporate Accountability (SACA) has urged the Federal Government to urgently halt the rising wave of crude oil theft and operations of illegal refineries in the Niger Delta area.

    The Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation, Rev. Fr. Kevin O’Hara, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa.

    NAN recalls that Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, the largest crude producer in Nigeria, on March 4 raised an alarm on the increasing incidence of crude oil theft.

    The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Mutiu Sumonu, warned that unless efforts were urgently made to curb the illicit oil trade, the company might be forced to shut its Nembe Oil Trunk line.

    He said that Nigeria was losing more than 60,000 barrels of crude daily to theft and illegal refineries.

    O’Hara stressed that oil theft was a complex problem, which posed a serious challenge to the nation’s economy.

    He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to collaborate with the international community in efforts to tackle the problem.

     

  • JTF denies complicity in Niger Delta oil theft

    The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta on Friday denied complicity over oil theft as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said the menace was threatening its operations.

    The SPDC had threatened to shut its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft within its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

    The Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Mutiu Sumonu, on March 4, urged the JTF to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, currently standing at about 60,000 barrels daily.

    The JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa that the outfit was recording significant success in the fight against the illegal activities.

    According to him, the facts at our disposal are that from January 2013 to date, 260 suspects, eight vessels, nine barges and 90 boats have been arrested.

    “We have also destroyed 452 illegal oil refining points. The JTF has not in any way relented in its task of combating oil theft in the region.

    “The statistics peddled by SPDC is very doubtful, they should look inwards as their staff possessed the expertise to crack and clamp and not the JTF,” Nwachukwu said.

    Nwachukwu said the JTF had adopted a robust strategy in combating oil theft and illegal oil bunkering activities at various stages.

    According to him, this include advocacy, enlightenment campaigns, surveillance of oil installations and pipeline network.

    “Crude oil theft involved a complex network from the source, where crude is stolen, transported, refined and distributed.

    “We recently raided a distribution centre in Yenagoa and destroyed the warehouse, where the products are stored.

    “It is a continuous exercise aimed at making crude theft cost-ineffective, thereby, discouraging it,” he said.

     

  • Shell makes $1.7b from upstream divestment

    Shell makes $1.7b from upstream divestment

    The Royal Dutch Shell raked in $1.7 billion from divested upstream assets in the fourth quarter of last year while $7 billion was realised from the total upstream divestments.

    In its fourth quarter and full year financial report, the Shell Group said the revenues were realised from the divested assets in the Niger Delta, Gulf of Mexico and Canada

    It said: “Upstream divestment proceeds totalled some $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter 2012. Divestments mainly included Shell’s 30 percent interest in Oil Mining Lease 30 where Shell’s share of production was 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the Niger Delta, Shell’s 50 per cent interest in the Holstein field, where the company’s share of production was 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the Gulf of Mexico and Shell’s interest in the Seal area, where its share of production was 2,000 boe/d within the Peace River oil sands of Alberta, Canada.”

    The report said during the fourth quarter of last year, Shell participated in the Arnhem-1, Pinhoe-1 where it has 50 per cent share in gas discoveries in the outer Exmouth and the Satyr-4 where it has 25 per cent share in gas discovery in the Gorgon area offshore Australia and the Zabazaba-3 oil discovery offshore Nigeria where it has 50 per cent share.

    The report also noted that Shell had successful drilling programmes in liquids-rich shales in North America and coal bed methane in Australia. “As part of its global exploration programme Shell added new acreage positions during the fourth quarter last year, including the Zitong tight-gas block onshore China, deep-water positions in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore New Zealand. New acreage positions were also added offshore Canada, Colombia and Malaysia, onshore Egypt, Russia and in liquids-rich shales in North America.

    Proceeds from downstream divestment, according to the report, totalled some $0.2 billion. Divestments mainly included Shell’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business in Malaysia and the majority of Shell’s shareholding in its downstream businesses in Botswana, Kenya and Namibia, the report said. Therefore, proceeds from the Group’s divestments in upstream and downstream sectors in the last quarter of 2012 were $1.9 billion.

    In the downstream also, Shell agreed to acquire Neste Oil Corporation’s network of 105 retail sites in Poland. “The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in 2013,” the company added.

    Speaking on the financial report, the Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell, Peter Voser, said: “With the first year of our 2012-2015 growth targets completed, Shell is on track for plans we set out in early 2012, despite headwinds last year.

    “Shell is competitive and innovative. We are delivering a strategy that others can’t easily repeat, with unique skills in technology and integration and a worldwide set of opportunities for new investment.”

    Meanwhile, Shell Group’s fourth quarter of last year’s earnings, on a cost of supplies (CCS) basis, were $7.3 billion compared with $6.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago while full year 2012 CCS earnings were $27.0 billion compared with $28.6 billion in 2011.

    The report also said that net capital investment for the fourth quarter 2012 was $10.9 billion, bringing the full year 2012 total to $29.8 billion. Capital investment was $12.8 billion for the fourth quarter 2012 and $36.8 billion for the full year.

     

  • Dutch court indicts Shell for Nigeria spills

    Dutch court indicts Shell for Nigeria spills

    …Absolves parent company of blame

    A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for a case of oil pollution in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay damages in a decision that could open the door to further litigation.

    The district court in The Hague said Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary, must compensate one farmer, but dismissed four other claims filed against the Dutch parent company.

    Reuters reports that four Nigerians and campaign group Friends of the Earth filed suits in 2008 in The Hague, where Shell has its global headquarters, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the Niger Delta region, the heart of the Nigerian oil industry.

    The case was seen by environmental activists as a test for holding multinationals responsible for offences at foreign subsidiaries, and legal experts said other Nigerians affected by pollution might now be able to sue in the Netherlands.

    Shell said the case would not set a precedent because its parent company was not held responsible.

    The farmer who won compensation, 52-year-old father of 12 Friday Akpan, said he was very happy with the judgment because it would allow him to repay his debts.

    “I am not surprised at the decision because there was divine intervention in the court. The spill damaged 47 fishing ponds, killed all the fish and rendered the ponds useless,” he told Reuters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    “Since then I have been living by God’s grace and on the help of good Samaritans. I think this will be a lesson for Shell and they will know not to damage people’s livelihoods.”

    A legal expert said the ruling could make it possible for other Nigerians who say they also suffered losses due to Shell’s activities to file lawsuits in the Netherlands.

    “The fact that a subsidiary has been held responsible by a Dutch court is new and opens new avenues,” said Menno Kamminga, professor of international law at Maastricht University.

    The court did not just examine the role of the parent company, but also looked “at abuses committed by Shell Nigeria, where the link with the Netherlands is extremely limited,” he said. “That’s a real breakthrough.”

     

  • NUPENG protests sack of 1,500 workers by Shell

    NUPENG protests sack of 1,500 workers by Shell

    Activities at the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Warri, Delta State were disrupted yesterday following a massive protest by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

    The oil workers said they were protesting the sack of 1,500 members by the oil giant which they accused of policies that target members and interests of the union. The National Deputy President of NUPENG, Comrade Eddy Ossai, who led hundreds of union members to the company office about 8 am, said they were prepared to cripple the company’s operations.

    He said: “We are not going to accept what Shell has just done to our members. Shell must not be allowed to get away with this.”

    Also, National Treasurer of NUPENG, Comrade Williams Akporeha, lamented that “Shell has told the whole world that NUPENG is no longer important and if we allow that to exist others like Chevron, Mobil etc will follow suit. Shell today sacked 1,500 of our members. Not because they do not have any reason to do so, but they did that without consulting the Union.”

    The protest led to a shut down of the busy Airport-Ajamogha-Ogunu roads axis of the oil city. A resultant traffic gridlock kept motorists on a spot for2 several hours.

    The protesters were undeterred by the deployment of fierce-looking dogs and heavy presence at the Shell gate located directly opposite the Federal Government College, as well as the company’s contractors’gate on the NPA Expressway link road.

    But Shell’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Mr Tony Okonedo,who confirmed the protest, denied the union’s allegation of anti-union policy. He said the protest did not affect the company’s operations.

    He said: “The company has no disagreement with NUPENG members in its employment. Allegations of interference and intimidation of union officials made in some media reports against SPDC by some members of the union outside its employment are false and baseless.

    “The fact is that SPDC is divesting from a number of its assets in Western Niger Delta as agreed by joint venture partners and approved by the Federal Government. This is part of a portfolio realignment exercise that will also help to grow indigenous capacity in the oil and gas industry.

    Okonedo, whose reaction was contained in an email to our reporter, said staff and unions have been briefed on the exercise, including the implications for the structure of the business in Western operations. He added that affected staff were being compensated in line with company policies.

    “We are also aware that there is a dispute between national NUPENG and the Shell Branch of the union which is the subject of a court case. The current court order is for all parties to maintain the status quo and SPDC is complying with that order,” added.

  • ‘Shell workers were not among oil thieves’

    The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has denied that two suspected oil thieves arrested by security forces in the Niger Delta, on November 19, are its staff.

    The oil giant said the two suspects are staff of some community based contractors who work on Shell’s behalf. Shell said it has community contractors who on their own employ about 9,000 community members.

    “Without prejudice to the ongoing investigation, we can confirm that the arrested persons are not employees of SPDC.

    “There are indications from the investigation that the arrested persons are employees of one of the several community based contractors who undertake pipeline surveillance work on SPDC’s behalf in the Niger Delta,” Shell’s spokesperson, Precious Okolobo, said in a statement.

    The Joint Task Force, in a statement to reporters, said it arrested the suspects while they were tapping crude from a Shell pipeline in Rivers State. The Force said the two arrested men “working for SPDC as surveillance officers were arrested at the scene.”

    However, Okolobo said Shell is “deeply concerned by recent reports in the media which wrongly stated that two of its staff were arrested by government security forces for alleged involvement in crude theft.”

    “We are equally concerned about allegations credited to the government security agencies that SPDC’s failure to repair identified bunkering points is frustrating their bid to combat oil theft,” the spokesperson said.

    Speaking on the allegation that the company has failed to recognise and carry out repairs on various bunkering points, Okolobo said: “By October 2012, SPDC had already removed 135 illegal connections for oil theft, of which 96 were causing spills and 39 were removed as a precaution against both spills and further oil theft.”