We are still active in Delta State, says Shell
Contrary to reports that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) had left Delta State after divesting its investments in 2010, the firm said it was still active in the state.
Shell’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who was represented by the company’s Head of Community Interface, Evans Krukrubo, insisted that the company had not left the state, as it still operates some oil and gas facilities including the Forcados Export Terminal.
He said during the presentation of its Briefing Notes, that Shell operated joint venture had carried out projects in the state and disbursed N1.88 billion to the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) clusters and established a Professorial Chair at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE).
He disclosed that the aforementioned were in addition to the donation of N600 million facilities to five schools under a youths’ sports and athletics development project (YSADP) in the state.
Weli stated that while it was true that the SPDC divested from a number of assets in Delta State in line with its business strategy, and in support of the participation of more Nigerian companies in the oil and gas industry, Shell was still active in the state.
“For example, we are still operating Forcados Terminal, flow stations, gas plants and a network of pipelines.
There is no better way to relay this message than undertaking projects and initiatives that are helping to rebuild lives and communities in the state,” he said.
He added that the SPDC joint venture was always prepared to contribute its quota to the development of its host communities in close collaboration with other stakeholders.
However, community leaders across the state have continued to appeal to SPDC to return to Warri where its office at Ogunu had remained abandoned and overwhelmed by weeds after the oil firm divested in 2010 and moved away.
Recently, during the inauguration of the Shell Professorial Chair at FUPRE, a leader of the community, Tuesday Onoge, pleaded with SPDC to return to the state, adding that the firm’s departure had created economic burden for the people.
Meanwhile, an oil facility operated by Depthwize Nigeria and owned by Conoil Nigeria Plc in Koluama community, Southern Ijaw Local Council of Bayelsa State, caught fire in the early hours of yesterday, causing panic among community folks.
An eyewitness said workers on the rig were evacuated but the inferno was still raging high on the ocean.
The Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Delta Safe, confirmed the fire incident yesterday.
Spokesman for the OPDS, Major Abdullhi Ibrahim, said all personnel on board the rig were successfully evacuated.
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