Posts Tagged ‘MEND’

Joy Olekanma: 14 August 2011

“Oil companies in Nigeria should save as much as they can for the days of darkness which are not afar”.

SOURCE ARTICLE

ABUJA, Nigeria, Aug. 26 (UPI) — Ongoing political and social strife in Nigeria’s delta region continues to affect Royal Dutch Shell’s oil extraction efforts.

Royal Dutch Shell’s major concern remains the militant armed efforts of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, as MEND attacks over the last several years have repeatedly forced Shell to declare force majeure and suspend production.

Royal Dutch Shell’s latest problems stem from a protest by local women in the Niger Delta’s Warri South-West Local Government Area in Escravos demonstrating over the community being bypassed for development, forcing Shell Petroleum Development Co. to shut down its Otumara-Escravos flow station, the Daily Trust reported Thursday. Last week they blocked access to Chevron Corp.’s new Escravos/Warri natural gas pipeline in the area.

The women said that they will continue to take possession of major oil facilities on their land until the government enters into meaningful dialogue with the community, giving both the Nigerian government and Royal Dutch Shell a major public relations debacle.

Seeking to downplay the issue, Royal Dutch Shell spokesman Tony Okonedo told journalists that some “aggrieved” women in the Ugborodo area of the state seized the flow station and the company is “employing dialogue” to solve the problem, adding, “Dialogue with the women, their community and representatives of the Delta State government continues with a view to resolving the issue.”

The $800 million Otumara-Escravos flow station is a joint venture project between with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and was designed to produce additional natural gas for the operation of Nigeria’s Power Holding Company.

Shell Petroleum Development Co., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, is the largest oil and gas producer in Nigeria. While oil firm royalty along with the sharing of federal oil revenues have provided state governments in the Niger Delta with larger budgets than many West African nations, massive corruption has siphoned off most of the revenue, leaving little for development amid rising social unrest.

Local activists are also concerned that more than 50 years of oil extraction have left their remote region of mangrove creeks suffering from massive land and water pollution, which neither the oil companies nor the federal government are making any significant efforts to address.

Adding to the public relations unrest, the U.N. Environment Program, while preparing to issue a report announcing that 90 percent of the oil spills in Nigeria’s Ogoniland are caused by the locals stealing crude from pipelines, with Royal Dutch Shell’s aging pipeline infrastructure responsible for the remaining 10 percent, has belatedly acknowledged that its statistics are based on data from the oil industry and the Nigerian government.

UPI SOURCE ARTICLE

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) called off its ceasefire just hours before an attack on three fuel pumping stations operated by Royal Dutch Shell. The company confirmed on Monday it was forced to partially shut down production following the sabotage assault on the facilities, in the south-eastern Bayelsa state.

BBC NEWS: Mend has carried out many attacks over several years

Saturday, 30 January 2010

A militant group in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta says it is ending the ceasefire it declared last October.

Jomo Gbomo, who said he was a spokesman for the group Mend, said it did not believe the government would restore control of resources to local people.

Mend has demanded that residents be given a greater share in profits from oil resources and land.

It warned oil companies to prepare for what it called an all-out onslaught against installations and personnel.

Analysts say it is not yet clear if this statement comes from the whole of Mend – the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta – or just a faction that did not accept the offer of an amnesty from President Umaru Yar Adua.

‘Nothing will be spared’

In a statement announcing the end of the ceasefire, the group said that the decision had been taken “after careful consideration and extensive consultation”.

“All companies related to the oil industry in the Niger Delta should prepare for an all-out onslaught,” it went on.

“Nothing will be spared,” it added, saying that the companies themselves would “bear the guilt” if their staff were harmed.

The BBC’s Caroline Duffield in Lagos says the statement will raise fears of a fresh wave of kidnappings targeting foreigners.

Militants have carried out a series of attacks which have cost Nigeria millions in lost revenue over the years.

The attacks have meant that facilities in the area have been unable to work beyond two-thirds capacity, costing $1bn a month in lost revenue.

Despite the ceasefire, one Mend faction attacked a pipeline in December, saying it was a “warning strike” over what it called government delays in progressing with peace talks.

Talks have been held up by the long absence of President Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia, where he has been undergoing medical treatment.

But our correspondent says he has made it is his personal project to end militant activity in the Delta and this development will increase the pressure on him to return.

BBC ARTICLE

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta denied involvement in the abduction of the contractors.

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) — Four Shell contractors — three Britons and a Colombian — have been released after being kidnapped a week ago, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The abductions in the oil-rich Niger Delta happened last Tuesday when attackers ambushed a bus in which the four were traveling, according to Rita Inoma, a police spokeswoman in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The former hostages were doing well, Inoma said.

It was unclear where the hostages had been held and what prompted their release.

The ambush last week killed a police constable and wounded a driver, Inoma said.

The bus was traveling from Port Harcourt, which is southeast of here, the Nigerian capital, to Afam, Nigeria, Inoma said.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which is known for its kidnappings of oil workers in the region, had announced after the abduction that it had no involvement in the kidnappings of the Shell contractors.

The militant group has demanded a fairer distribution of the country’s oil wealth and for the release of its members imprisoned by the government.

CNN’s Christian Purefoy contributed to this report.

Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:51pm GMT

LAGOS, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) said on Saturday it had no reports of attacks on facilities operated by its SPDC joint venture in Nigeria, following a claim by militants to have struck an oil pipeline overnight.

“At this time we don’t have reports of our facility being attacked,” a Shell spokesperson said. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ )

(Reporting by Nick Tattersall; editing by David Stamp)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.

REUTERS ARTICLE

RADIO NEDERLAND

16 October 2009

The Nigerian rebel group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, says it will take up arms again and resume attacks on oil production facilities. The group had called a cease-fire in July after Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua offered an unconditional amnesty and released one of MEND’s main leaders Henry Okah. The government says 8,000 MEND commanders and soldiers have taken advantage of the amnesty and turned in their weapons.

However MEND has dismissed the amnesty as a “charade” and says that the government purchased many of the weapons it said had been turned in by rebels.

The attacks against the oil installations, which began three years ago, have reduced Nigeria’s oil production from 2.6 million barrels a day to 1.7 million barrels. Earlier this week, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser announced that onshore oil production has fallen heavily due to violence in the Niger Delta. “I think we are now at 120,000 barrels per day and we used to be close to 300,000.”

MEND says the revenues from oil drilling do not reach the local population and have also devastated the region’s natural environment.

SOURCE ARTICLE

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: IBADAN, Nigeria–Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Saturday it was operating its many facilities in the Niger Delta with a minimum staff following the frequent attacks on its facilities in the region by militants.

Sabotage at Shell’s oil plants in the delta region, where it is the largest international producer, is the main reason behind an increase in worker deaths and oil spills last year, the company said at its annual general meeting at The Hague on May 19.

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s main militant group said it attacked a gas plant operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company.