LAGOS (MarketWatch) — A spokesman for Shell Petroleum Development Co. in Nigeria said Friday that security concerns in the troubled oil-rich Delta region continued to hamper the restart of up to a fifth of the country's crude output.
“We are not in a hurry to start crude oil production,” said the official from SPDC, a Royal Dutch Shell PLC-led (RDSB.LN) joint venture with the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNP.YY).
The SPDC spokesman added: “What we are looking for is security. We want to be assured that we can walk in there and clean up the place and remain there to produce,” he said.
A Shell spokeswoman in London reconfirmed Friday that 455,000 barrels a day of Nigerian production from its local joint-venture remained shutdown. Shell owns 30% in the venture, in which the Nigerian state oil company is a majority shareholder.
She added that the Forcados terminal and the offshore EA field remain under force majeure, a clause that allows suppliers of crude to halt deliveries to customers without a legal breach of contract.
In an e-mail late Thursday, the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said: “For the errant oil companies that still choose to remain and operate in our lands and waters, we shall come like a thief in the night.”
Militants Wednesday changed tactics and carried out a car bomb attack at a military barracks in the oil center of Port Harcourt, killing at least one person. Previously, they have kidnapped foreign oil workers but released them unharmed.
Nigeria has also lost more than $1.5 billion in crude export revenues and the government recently moved in more troops to secure oil facilities in the Delta.
However, the Shell official said the presence of troops wasn't guarantee enough for the company to resume operations.
“Were the soldiers not there when the militants attacked the pipelines?” he asked.
“There is a difference between guarding a flow station and a pipeline, which runs across several kilometers,” he noted.
Facilities attacked by the militants include flow stations and a pipeline belonging to SPDC; a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Co., a unit of Italy's Eni SpA (E), and a gas pipeline belonging to Chevron Corp. (CVX) unit ChevronTexaco Nigeria.
The group has also said it would target ExxonMobil Corp.'s (XOM) operations.
ExxonMobil said this week that crude output at its offshore Yoho facility is returning to normal following an “operational event” last weekend.
Its subsidiary, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, has developed the $1.3 billion Yoho project since 2002 and the shallow-water project currently produces about 150,000 b/d, with a peak production goal of 165,000 b/d, according to previous reports from the company.
MEND said Wednesday: “In the coming weeks, we will carry out similar attacks against relevant oil industry targets and individuals. “At a time of our choosing, we will resume our attacks with greater devastation and no compassion on those who choose to disregard our warnings,' they warned in an e-mail signed by Jomo Gbomo.
Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. The instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan
SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL
INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
ESTHER KIOBEL SUES SHELL FOR COMPLICITY IN HUSBANDS MURDER
ESTHER KIOBEL: EVIL OIL GIANT SHELL COLLUDED IN THE EXECUTION OF MY INNOCENT HUSBAND
SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA
SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS
SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW
ABANDONED BY SHELL: KEITH MACDONALD & FAMILY, VICTIMS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION AT WORK
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS
AN OPEN WOUND FOR SHELL SAYS FT
John Donovan’s ebooks
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
Bonus Group: It is not clear why the once upon a time VP Developments, Brazil is now VP Subsurface Excellence, given that the Brazil Asset under her stewardship spent at least five years down a giant rabbit hole using a corrupt workflow that resulted in a significant overbooking of reserves.
Bonus Group: John,
Re:Links between Samuel Iskander and corruption
Dave Freeman currently Chief Operating Officer at privately owned Tailwind Energy and previously Upstream Technical Director (COO Office) at BG Group should be able to answer your question.
REPLY BY JOHN:
Many thanks, I will pass that information on to the investigative contact.
John Donovan: POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN INVESTIGATIVE CONTACT:
Newly former Shell executive Sami Iskander has been appointed CEO to London-traded energy company Petrofac, which is facing corruption allegations in Italy and from the U.K.'s SFO. The question is whether Iskander, who was one of only four executives from British Gas retained by Shell when the two merged in 2015, brings any baggage with him?
Why Mr. Iskander and not someone else? Conversely, why would he want to join such an embattled company? Are there any indications that his time at BG or Shell was less than spotless in terms of possible corruption, to include cover-ups or just looking the other way? Does he have any hidden ties with Petrofac or its outgoing CEO Ayman Asfari?
In general, what kind of a reputation does this man have in the London energy business community?
Bonus Group: The long overdue structural reorganisation at Shell is rapidly approaching. No better place to start than within the Brazil Asset which has been propped-up for over ten years now by the same BG Group sycophants who have a proven track record of overbooking reserves on the basis of flawed functionall approved technical workflows. These individuals are still clinging desperately to their positions five years after the takeover of BG Group by Shell. Can it be that Shell cannot afford to move them on lest their poor work and lies be revealed? Get rid of them, truth and transparency are now required if not demanded in the Brasil Asset!
Bogus Group: More BG Group (Shell) executive 'turmoil'. Just love the "stepping down with immediate effect for personal reasons" euphemism.
PRELUDE WHITE ELEPHANT: Shell has not revealed the cost of Prelude but analysts estimate the price tag has ballooned to as much as A$17bn ($13bn). The Anglo-Dutch company reported $9bn in impairment charges on its Australian gas assets in the second and third quarters of 2020.
https://www.ft.com/content/6ba54787-6d21-48d2-93b2-273cdcf48455
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