Shell has no plans to quit Nigeria

  1. Posted on Friday 28 January 2011 - 11:03
    Efiokobong
    Aniefiok Udonquak, AfricaNews reporter in Uyo, Nigeria
    Despite coming under severe criticisms over its activities in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation says it is not in a hurry to quite the country. The company which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell with headquarters in The Hague, Netherland said Shell was not planning to leave the country.
    Shell_Refueller.JPG
    According to media reports quoting top officials of the oil company at a public hearing in the Dutch parliament, the oil company maintained that it could not be held solely responsible for the environmental degradation in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

    While acknowledging the huge challenge it faces in region, the oil company said it the Federal Government of Nigeria should also bear part of the responsibility.

    Ian Craig, head of the company’s exploration and production for Sub Saharan African was quoted as saying that 70 percent of the oil spills were caused by sabotage while 30 percent was as a result of its activities.

    ‘We do some responsibility, but we cannot bear it entirely,’ Craig was quoted as telling the Parliamentary hearing.

    In addition, the company also denied that it was responsible for the conflict in the Niger Delta saying that the crisis in the region had forced the reduction of its activities.

    According to the media reports, the President of Shell Netherlands, Peter de Wit however descried Nigeria as a very important country whose economic potentials could not be underestimated.

    He said the future of Africa would be determined by Nigeria’s role adding that Shell was also determined to be part of that future.

    ‘We have many highly successful projects in Nigeria and it is a very important economy. Shell is not thinking about quitting Nigeria or the Niger Delta,’ he said.

    The oil company has been criticized in many quarters for not doing enough to promote sustainable environment issues as well as contributing to the violence in the Niger Delta. The region which produces the bulk of the country’s oil resources remains one of the poorest regions of the country.

Latest News

  1. Malawi Electoral body appeals for ethical…17/05The Malawi Electoral Commission has challenged the media to follow ethical standards in the coverage of the 2014 tripartite elections to avoid fueling…
  2. Amplats to cut 6,000 jobs in South Africa10/05Top global platinum producer Anglo American Platinum announced on Friday that it will cut 6,000 jobs at its South African operations, in a move that r…
  3. Kofi Annan: Africa plundered by secret mining…10/05Tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has…
  4. Bomb blasts rock Libyan city of Benghazi10/05A bomb has exploded outside the a police station in the Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, Reuters news agency reports.
  5. Kenya calls on UN to drop Kenyatta trials10/05Kenya has written to the UN Security Council seeking to scrap the international crimes against humanity trials for President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Vi…
  6. Zanu PF Spruces up Voter Victimization…02/05Zanu PF has perfected its intimidation and coercive electoral machinery ahead of Zimbabwe’s next elections, an investigative visit to Mutoko…
  7. Africa Oil & Gas, Finance & Investment…02/05AME Trade Ltd are happy to announce the launch of the Africa Oil & Gas, Finance & Investment Forum (http://www.aogfi.com). This event is suppo…
  8. Cameroon: Anti-poaching Operations Intensified02/05Wildlife authorities in Cameroon arrested 20 suspects and confiscated 45 guns during a 10-day anti-poaching operation that targeted elephant poachers …
  9. Mugabe warns against foreign interference19/04Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has said he will not accept foreign interference during elections later this year.
  10. Cameroonian Scholar Wins 2013 'African He…19/04Internationally-recognised anthropologist, University of Cape Town's, UCT, Prof. Francis Beng Nyamnjoh was named African Hero of the Year for 201…
  11. SAA receives most on-time airline in the world…19/04South African Airways (SAA) has received two major endorsements from respected industry experts. In the first, SAA topped the list of the most on-time…
  12. Action Plan Launched to end preventable deaths…12/04UNICEF and the WHO have launched a new action plan tackling for the first time two of the three biggest killer diseases of children under five in Afri…
  13. Eurochannel picks EUTELSAT 16A to extend reach…12/04The range of channels broadcasting across sub-Saharan Africa via the EUTELSAT 16A satellite further increased today with the launch of Eurochannel, th…
  14. Madonna in bitter war of words with Malawi aft…12/04Pop star Madonna is causing a commotion in Malawi, days after her return from a goodwill trip to the nation. The singer is in a bitter feud with the …
  15. Sudan's Bashir arrives in South Sudan12/04Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in South Sudan for the first time since his 2011 visit for the country's independence celebrati…
News archive