Posts under ‘Militant attacks’

Nigeria’s oil wells may be flowing again, but the country’s largest operator says attacks continue to put a brake on output.

Written by Bloomberg – 05/06/2018 9:35 am

“Security in parts of the Niger delta remains a major concern with persisting incidents of criminality, kidnapping and vandalism as well as onshore and offshore piracy,” said Igo Weli, general manager for external relations at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit. The warning underlines the enduring threat of attacks even as production recovers from a major militant campaign in 2016. Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude shipments last month following pipeline leaks, while loadings of Forcados exports were also delayed. Weli didn’t specifically link those incidents to his comments on vandalism. FULL ARTICLE read more

By Doris Esa: 20 MAY 2018

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has met with Shell companies in Nigeria to plan the protection of oil installations, including deployment and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

The Air Force said it was ready to partner with Shell to deploy the drones to help secure the companies’ oil and gas pipelines.

The NAF said it would deploy the drones to other critical oil installations in the Niger Delta.

A statement by the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, AVM Olatokunbo Adesanya, announced this in Abuja. read more

Shell managed a large force of police officers, which provided security for the company’s personnel and property. The records show that this force included a team of undercover officers, which received training from the security services. 

Extract from pages 11 & 12 of an Amnesty International document headed: “A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE? SHELL’S INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA IN THE 1990s”

Under Executive Summary.

BEGINS

SHELL LENT MATERIAL SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE TO THE ARMED FORCES

Shell provided the security forces with logistical support and payments as a matter of routine during the 1990s. Former Shell Nigeria chairperson, Brian Anderson explained that this was standard practice in relation to the military:

“In reality, any operational contact with the government requires financial and logistical support from Shell. For example to get representatives of the Department of Petroleum Resources to view an oil spill we often have to provide transport and other amenities. The same applies to military protection.” (emphasis added) read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa: 21 Oct 2017

The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) says the degradation of the environment in the Niger is mainly due to spillages from the activities of crude oil thieves, sabotage of facilities, illegal refining and other third party interferences, rather than negligence by the company.  FULL ARTICLE

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) is a big player in Nigeria, a country that has been dealing with increases in civil unrest and sporadic violence over the past few years, particularly from the Niger Delta Avengers group that wants a larger portion of the oil & gas tax revenue to go to the Niger Delta region. This is on top of Nigeria’s ongoing fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country. The ongoing security situation is a major risk for Shell’s Nigerian operations, especially as the Niger Delta Avengers have shown the ability to repeatedly target bottlenecks like pipelines and force a lot of output offline. Let’s dig in by first going over what’s at stake for Shell. FULL ARTICLE read more

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) remitted 29.8 billion dollars to the federation account and 1.2 billion dollars to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2002 and 2016, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, made the disclosure on Monday. Mr. Weli spoke in Port Harcourt while reacting to the shut-down of SPDC flow station and gas plant in Belema community by angry youth. The youth accused the company of neglecting them and marginalising their community. Addressing journalists, Mr. Weli said the seizure of the company’s facilities by the youth would not only send wrong signal to the international community, but was capable of discouraging further investment in the Niger Delta. FULL ARTICLE read more

The protesters complained they were not benefiting from oil production in their area, a common refrain in the impoverished swampland that produces most of Nigeria’s oil. They also demanded an end to oil pollution in the area.

Soldiers and security guards did not disperse the crowd as it entered the Belema Flow Station in Rivers State, which feeds oil into Shell’s Bonny export terminal.

But the army sent reinforcements after protesters said they would stay at the facility for two weeks.

“I am a graduate for about eight years without a job,” said Anthony Bouye, one of the protest leaders. “Shell won’t employ me despite us having so much wealth in our backyard.” read more

Nigeria Seizes Foreign Vessel for Alleged Theft of Shell Crude: Bloomberg: 27 April 2017

Nigeria detained a vessel with crew members from countries including Pakistan, Indonesia and Ukraine for alleged theft of crude from a facility owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the navy said.

Bar, business groups back Cravath on fighting disclosure of Shell documents: Reuters 27 April 2017

The New York City Bar Association has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in backing law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore in its appeal of an order to turn over documents belonging to client Royal Dutch Shell plc in a possible overseas lawsuit accusing the oil giant of facilitating human rights violations.

Shell Signs Oil Exploration Cooperation Deal In Oman: OilPrice.com: 26 April 2017

Royal Dutch Shell and Oman Oil Company Exploration & Production (OOCEP) have signed a Heads of Agreement for cooperation in resource exploration in an oil and gas block in Oman, the Omani company said on Twitter on Wednesday. read more

By Rachel Millard For The Daily Mail: 7 December 2016 

Residents of the communities in south-east Nigeria remember clearly the day oil giant Shell first arrived in the 1950s.

Children could hear the rumble of the trucks from a distance, so they’d wave at the drivers as they passed.

It still happened when King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, community leader of the Ogale community in Ogoniland, was growing up in the 1960s.

The region, largely marshland and swamps, was poor but the British firm, with its modern technology and skilled engineers, seemed to represent a new era of prosperity.  read more

Published November 09, 2016 Associated Press

WARRI, Nigeria –  Nigerian militants say they have again blown up an oil pipeline carrying crude for export from Shell’s Forcados terminal in the country’s south. It’s the third attack in eight days on the Trans Forcados pipeline network.

The first came just hours after President Muhammadu Buhari held inconclusive talks with stakeholders aimed at halting the sabotage. Militants and community leaders want development and a bigger share of revenues from oil that has massively polluted the southern Niger Delta. read more

Wed Nov 9, 2016 10:56am GMT

LAGOS Nov 9 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it was checking a claim by a group of Nigerian protesters that they had shut down an Escravos oil facility in the Niger Delta operated by its joint-venture partner SPDC.

Shyne Edema, a youth leader in the restive region, said earlier his group was staging a protest at the facility, shutting down power and water supplies as well as crude production.

(Reporting by Libby George, Ananamesere Igboeroteonwu, Ulf Laessing and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Adrian Croft) read more

By Tsvetana Paraskova – Nov 02, 2016, 3:15 PM CDT

Just two days after the Nigeria’s state-owned Trans Forcados oil pipeline resumed operations following an attack in July, militants hit the pipeline again late on Tuesday, a community leader said on Wednesday.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on the pipeline which carries crude oil and gas to the 400,000-bpd Forcados export terminal owned by Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A).

The attack led to a “massive spill, flooding a creek knee-deep in crude,” the Associated Press quoted Batan community leader Dickson Ogugu as saying. read more

HEARING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS WEDNESDAY 2nd NOVEMBER 2016

EXTRACTS FROM A CONFIDENTIAL EMAIL

Subject: JCHR: Claimant in case against Shell to detail experiences in human rights and business inquiry 

More here including House of Commons Library briefings

Watch live here 

Claimant in human rights case against Shell to detail experiences in human rights and business inquiry 

The Joint Committee on Human Rights continue their inquiry into human rights and business on Wednesday 2 November when they hear from John Gbei via video-link from Nigeria. 

Mr Gbei, and members of the Bodo Community in Nigeria, filed a successful lawsuit against Shell in London High Court for two oil spills which occurred in the Niger Delta in 2008 and 2009. The case resulted in an award of £55million; Shell having originally offered compensation of £4,000.  read more

Tom DiChristopher: 26 Oct 2016

The Niger Delta Avengers resumed their campaign of sabotage on Tuesday, potentially kicking off a return to the serial bombings the militant group carried out earlier this year.

Those attacks sent Nigerian crude output to a more than decade-low and deepened an economic crisis in the Western African nation brought on by persistently low oil prices. Analysts say the government has been slow to advance a coherent response, and in the absence of an effective strategy, the conflict will likely escalate, putting Nigeria’s recovery in question and global oil supply at risk. read more

By Erwin Cifuentes – Oct 25, 2016, 5:26 PM CDT

The Nigerian presidency on Tuesday issued a statement affirming that Royal Dutch Shell will resume exports from the Forcados terminal in the Niger Delta region.

“The Shell Director, Mr. Andrew Brown, informed the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration,” the Nigerian presidency said following a meeting between Brown and President Muhammadu Buhari.

Operations at Forcados had been halted after an attack last February against the facility attributed to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). Some 250,000 to 300,000 barrels of crude were produced prior to the assault. read more

by Reuters: Tuesday, 25 October 2016 18:42 GMT

By Felix Onuah

ABUJA, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has resumed crude exports from the Forcados terminal in Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta following repairs after a militant attack, the Nigerian presidency said on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from Shell.

“The Shell Director, Mr. Andrew Brown, informed the President of the resumption of oil exportation through the Forcados terminal following its restoration,” the presidency said after a meeting between Brown and President Muhammadu Buhari. read more