Shell
Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited paid to the Federal
Government a total of $48bn (N9.46tn) in royalties and taxes from 2010
to 2014, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the parent company of the SPDC, has
said.
The oil major, in its ‘Sustainability
Report 2014’ released on Friday, said its share of royalties and taxes
paid to the government in 2014 was $3bn (SPDC, $1.8bn and Shell Nigeria
Exploration and Production Company, $1.2bn).
According to the report, 95 per cent
share of revenue after cost goes to the Nigerian government from each
barrel of oil that the SPDC produces.
Shell said 90 per cent of its total
number of contracts were awarded to local companies, adding that $1.5bn
was spent by the SPDC and SNEPCo on local contracting and procurement
last year.
The Chairman of Shell companies in
Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, said in the report that
onshore oil divestments by the SPDC had created a perception to some
that Shell was leaving the country.
“In fact, Shell companies remain
committed to maintaining the pioneering role we have played in Nigeria
for more than half a century. This is clearly illustrated in the
deep-water fields of the Gulf of Guinea and the gas value chain in the
Niger Delta, where SNEPCo and SPDC are using advanced technology to
deliver safe economic projects that unlock Nigeria’s energy potential,
while providing jobs and training for local people,” he said.
Sunmonu, who stated that there were
still challenges for Shell companies in the country, described the wider
Nigerian oil and gas industry as “an operating environment that remains
among the most volatile in the global oil and gas industry.”
“I would like to highlight two major
challenges. First, crude oil theft has been the defining sustainability
challenge during my time as chairman. The SPDC has taken numerous
measures to limit the impact of this criminality within its areas of
operation. It has also raised awareness of the scale of the problem both
within Nigeria and internationally,” he said.
According to him, theft, sabotage and
illegal refining have continued to be the main sources of environmental
damage in the Niger Delta and have resulted in many thousands of barrels
of lost production.
Sunmonu added, “It is vital that the
current collaboration between the operating companies, communities, the
Nigerian government and its international partners is maintained and
expanded.
“Second, Shell companies in Nigeria’s
credibility as a partner of the government and host communities in
Nigeria is dependent on us dealing responsibly and transparently with
our environmental commitments.”
He said the performance in preventing,
responding to and cleaning up spills had improved in recent years
despite the escalation of crude oil theft and difficulties in securing
community permission to access some areas.
According to Sunmonu, the SPDC reduced
the volume of flared gas by more than 75 per cent between 2002 and 2013
as the intensity (amount of gas flared per barrel of oil produced) fell
by almost 60 per cent over the same period.
He said the company remained committed
to further reducing the volume and intensity of gas flaring, with a
number of associated gas-gathering projects, which are all currently in
development.
Sunmonu said, “However, in 2014, an
increase in levels of oil production has resulted in the volumes of
flared gas increasing by 12 per cent over the year, and an increase of
nine per cent in flaring intensity.
“A challenging operating environment and
shortfalls in funding from the government-owned Nigerian National
Petroleum Company have resulted in delays to the completion of a number
of gas-gathering projects.”
credits;;punch
No comments:
Post a Comment