No Plans to Pull Out of Nigeria - Shell
Says it is committed to peace in Niger Delta
By Mike Oduniyi
Shell Petroleum Develop-ment Company (SPDC), said yesterday that it had no plans to dump onshore operations in Nigeria. It also affirmed that it was fully committed to peace in the Niger Delta region, saying this would be of benefit to all stakeholders.
The Managing Director of SPDC and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Chris Finlayson, said in a press statement that as a responsible corporate citizen in the region, "SPDC is committed to contributing meaningfully to peace-making efforts of all stakeholders in the area."
Shell and other major oil producing companies have been targets of militant youths in the Niger Delta, demanding a fair share of the oil wealth.
Reacting to reports that the company was not doing much to end the conflict in the oil producing region, Shell said in the statement that its commitment towards ensuring a lasting peace in the Niger Delta, necessitated a study it commissioned last year on conflict resolution, by a group of experts.
According to Shell, recommendations from the study, conducted by conflict resolution consultants, WAC Global Services, were being taken out of context or misconstrued.
"We commissioned the report in order to help us better understand how our activities are affected by, and inadvertently contribute to, conflict," Shell said.
The company however, denied some of the claims being ascribed to the report, including insinuations that Shell planned to withdraw from onshore operations in the Niger Delta by 2008.
"The 2008 date quoted was solely the view of the report's authors, which we disagree with. Shell has no plan to implement that recommendation," the company said.
Shell said while the serious conflict in the parts of the Delta has the potential to get worse if no action was taken, it added that the three tiers of government as well as the local communities must take the lead in ending the conflict.
"For example, the report highlighted how conflict makes it difficult for us to operate safely and with integrity, how we sometime feed conflict by the way we award contracts, gain access to land and deal with community representatives and how conflict reduces the effect of our community development programme," said the oil company.
The statement said the report from the study, helped SPDC to gain a more in-depth understanding of the underlying issues relating to conflict in the Niger Delta, adding that the company was developing strategy aimed at ensuring peace and security in the area by changing its operating, security and development practices.
"A peace and security strategy working group made up of local, national and international experts, stakeholders and representatives of the oil industry, will evolve from wide consultation and engagement with like-minded individuals and group," Shell said.
Shell is Nigeria's biggest crude oil producer, accounting for more than 40 percent of the country's daily production now at some 2.4 million bpd.
Nigeria is currently losing over 160,000 bpd to violence in the Niger Delta region.
The Federal Government as well as the Delta State Government said they were putting measures in place to curtail conflict in the area.
Recently, Governor James Ibori of Delta State launched special security operation to end conflict in the state, aftermath of which leaders of ethnic groups in the violent conflicts in Warri, declared a total cease-fire.
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