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Chief James Onanefe Ibori, former governor of Delta State, has given reasons why it makes more economic sense for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to return its western operational headquarters to Warri in Delta State.
Addressing stakeholders at an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) in Abuja, on Thursday, Chief Ibori said the decision of the company to shut down its operations in Warri was ill-advised.
He said it was a ploy by the company’s leadership, in connivance with the Federal Government, to deprive the people of the Niger Delta of their participatory rights to the oil and gas business and its attendant benefits.
Represented by Stanley Mark, who read his address, the two-term governor of oil-rich Delta State, said, “With the continued operation of the Estuary area fields off the coast of Delta State which currently produces 120,000bpd (with potential of over 250,00pbd), it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support of this field to Warri.
“The field has an FPSO for processing and storage of crude. The field is off-shore Delta State and it’s about 90km from Warri. It is 30 minutes by chopper from Warri and 90 minutes from Lagos, yet personnel are flown there from Lagos on a daily basis.
“With ongoing associated gas gathering (AGG) projects in Otumara/Saghara/Escravos and Forcados/Yorki, it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support back to Warri.
“With existing huge investments in SPDC logistics in Ogunu in Warri, it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support back to Warri. This logistic base has an extensive marine jetty, helicopter runway, pipe storage, warehouses and offices.”
Ibori added that relocating the operational headquarters of SPDC to Warri would make abundant economic and social sense, and would serve the interest of the Federal Government.
He said it would also preserve the rights of the Niger Deltan for continued participation in the wealth produced from their God-given land.
“The people must not be sacrificed and the law ignored for the selfish interest of a few who misled the SPDC and the Federal Government in the past,” he added.
In the same vein, the House committee led by Victor Nwokolo (PDP, Delta), summoned Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum, and Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to appear before it and explain their roles in the subject-matter under probe.
The lawmakers were angered by what they termed “the lack of regard for the legislature by officials of the executive arm which emboldens them to always ignore committee invitations for appearances”.
The resolution to summon Kachikwu and Baru was taken in reaction to the two officials’ decision to send a low-level officer to appear before the House in their stead.
They had sent Dolo Oyekan, General Manager (Legal) at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the NNPC.
Her spirited efforts to explain the circumstances of her choice as representative of both chief executives were rebuffed by members who frowned at the condescending manner in which government officials treated parliamentary invitations.
Similarly, the presentation made by the SPDC team, led by its General Manager, Business and Government Relations, Steve Okwuosa, was stood down for lack of details.
Chairman of the panel, Nwokolo, noted that while Shell claimed to have moved its Western operational headquarters from Warri as a result of divestment of its major business interests, the actual reason it advanced according to the Delta State government was insecurity of its facilities and non-viability of oil wells.
The panel discovered that none of the stated reasons was mentioned in the submission to its secretariat which amounted to misleading of the committee by the SPDC.
It, therefore, ruled that SPDC updates its submission by providing details of its interface with Delta State government and the reasons it gave for divesting interests and relocating its operational headquarters from Warri. The company was given until Monday next week to comply.
Earlier, while addressing the panel, the government team from Delta State, led by the Secretary to the State Government, Festus Ovie Agas, told lawmakers that bearing in mind the economic implications of SPDC’s decision, all concerns raised by the company regarding insecurity had been addressed.
He disclosed that Shell was a major player in Delta State economy with over a billion naira Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes into the state’s coffers.
Agas explained that while the presence of Shell led to the emergence of several ancillary companies, providing an array of services, the relocation of its headquarters had led to loss of jobs and economic downturn in the state.
He said despite having put in place both legal, legislative, and security measures to ensure the safety of investors’ facilities which, the earlier concerns raised by Shell as reasons for its relocation, the company had paid deaf ears to calls by both the state and Federal Government to return to Warri where it still had significant business interests.
The SSG added that government had been collaborating with host communities to ensure safe operational environment for all investors, including SPDC and other oil and gas companies which, he urged, should come to Delta State to continue their operations in line with a directive issued by the vice president, then the acting president, that SPDC and other oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta should relocate their operational headquarters to the states.
Hearing on the matter would continue by 10a.m on Wednesday, next week. (Daily Independent)
Addressing stakeholders at an investigative hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) in Abuja, on Thursday, Chief Ibori said the decision of the company to shut down its operations in Warri was ill-advised.
He said it was a ploy by the company’s leadership, in connivance with the Federal Government, to deprive the people of the Niger Delta of their participatory rights to the oil and gas business and its attendant benefits.
Represented by Stanley Mark, who read his address, the two-term governor of oil-rich Delta State, said, “With the continued operation of the Estuary area fields off the coast of Delta State which currently produces 120,000bpd (with potential of over 250,00pbd), it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support of this field to Warri.
“The field has an FPSO for processing and storage of crude. The field is off-shore Delta State and it’s about 90km from Warri. It is 30 minutes by chopper from Warri and 90 minutes from Lagos, yet personnel are flown there from Lagos on a daily basis.
“With ongoing associated gas gathering (AGG) projects in Otumara/Saghara/Escravos and Forcados/Yorki, it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support back to Warri.
“With existing huge investments in SPDC logistics in Ogunu in Warri, it makes economic sense for SPDC to relocate its office and logistic support back to Warri. This logistic base has an extensive marine jetty, helicopter runway, pipe storage, warehouses and offices.”
Ibori added that relocating the operational headquarters of SPDC to Warri would make abundant economic and social sense, and would serve the interest of the Federal Government.
He said it would also preserve the rights of the Niger Deltan for continued participation in the wealth produced from their God-given land.
“The people must not be sacrificed and the law ignored for the selfish interest of a few who misled the SPDC and the Federal Government in the past,” he added.
In the same vein, the House committee led by Victor Nwokolo (PDP, Delta), summoned Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum, and Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to appear before it and explain their roles in the subject-matter under probe.
The lawmakers were angered by what they termed “the lack of regard for the legislature by officials of the executive arm which emboldens them to always ignore committee invitations for appearances”.
The resolution to summon Kachikwu and Baru was taken in reaction to the two officials’ decision to send a low-level officer to appear before the House in their stead.
They had sent Dolo Oyekan, General Manager (Legal) at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the NNPC.
Her spirited efforts to explain the circumstances of her choice as representative of both chief executives were rebuffed by members who frowned at the condescending manner in which government officials treated parliamentary invitations.
Similarly, the presentation made by the SPDC team, led by its General Manager, Business and Government Relations, Steve Okwuosa, was stood down for lack of details.
Chairman of the panel, Nwokolo, noted that while Shell claimed to have moved its Western operational headquarters from Warri as a result of divestment of its major business interests, the actual reason it advanced according to the Delta State government was insecurity of its facilities and non-viability of oil wells.
The panel discovered that none of the stated reasons was mentioned in the submission to its secretariat which amounted to misleading of the committee by the SPDC.
It, therefore, ruled that SPDC updates its submission by providing details of its interface with Delta State government and the reasons it gave for divesting interests and relocating its operational headquarters from Warri. The company was given until Monday next week to comply.
Earlier, while addressing the panel, the government team from Delta State, led by the Secretary to the State Government, Festus Ovie Agas, told lawmakers that bearing in mind the economic implications of SPDC’s decision, all concerns raised by the company regarding insecurity had been addressed.
He disclosed that Shell was a major player in Delta State economy with over a billion naira Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes into the state’s coffers.
Agas explained that while the presence of Shell led to the emergence of several ancillary companies, providing an array of services, the relocation of its headquarters had led to loss of jobs and economic downturn in the state.
He said despite having put in place both legal, legislative, and security measures to ensure the safety of investors’ facilities which, the earlier concerns raised by Shell as reasons for its relocation, the company had paid deaf ears to calls by both the state and Federal Government to return to Warri where it still had significant business interests.
The SSG added that government had been collaborating with host communities to ensure safe operational environment for all investors, including SPDC and other oil and gas companies which, he urged, should come to Delta State to continue their operations in line with a directive issued by the vice president, then the acting president, that SPDC and other oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta should relocate their operational headquarters to the states.
Hearing on the matter would continue by 10a.m on Wednesday, next week. (Daily Independent)
