UK court rejects Ogoni suit judgment against Shell - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

A United Kingdom-based court has dismissed the application by some leaders of Ejamah Ebubu community in Ogoniland to register the judgement of a Nigerian Federal High Court in the country for enforcement, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Claimants had applied to register the judgement to enforce a N183 billion judgment sum, which was the judgement sum and the interest over the spill incident in the community in or about 1969, a spill Shell Petroleum Development Company said arose from third party activities during the Nigerian civil war.

The company also said the spill site had since been remediated.
The claimants recalculated the High Court judgement of N17 billion plus interest to be N183 billion as at January 2019, but admitted to the UK court that the sum was overstated.

The claimants also obtained an order of a Nigerian court to seize and sell the assets of SPDC to satisfy the said judgment, while the matter is still the subject of several proceedings, including pending appeals at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

In the judgement, on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by NaijaAgroNet, the UK court declined the request for registration of the Nigerian court judgment after finding that SPDC suffered a serious breach of natural justice “through being prevented from presenting its defence to the claim” in Nigeria.

The court also the claimants overstated the judgement sum.
Reacting to the ruling, spokesperson for Shell Nigeria, Bamidele Odugbesan, said: “This spill was caused by third parties during the Nigerian Civil War, a challenging period which resulted in significant damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the region. While SPDC does not accept responsibility for these spills, the affected sites in the Ebubu community were fully remediated.

“We are pleased that the English court has rejected the registration of this judgement for enforcement in the UK. This matter is still the subject of several proceedings in the Nigerian Courts, including pending appeals at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and it remains our position that no payment is due. It is regrettable that the legal process in this case has focused for so long on procedural issues and not the merits of the case when we have always maintained that we are ready to defend this case based on the available facts.”

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Clean-up in Aghoro, Odimodi gains momentum says Shell - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has recovered over 95 per cent of spilled oil from the recent spill incidents  on  sections of the Trans Ramos Pipeline (TRP) in Aghoro community, Bayelsa State, and in Odimodi community in Delta State, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The pipeline, which has remained shut-in since the incidents, supplies crude to the SPDC Joint Venture-owned Forcados Oil Terminal in western Niger Delta for export.

In a statement,  a spokesperson for SPDC acknowledged the spills as very regrettable, adding that in line with the standard operating procedures of SPDC, the TRP was shut down immediately the incidents were reported and the Oil Spill Response and the Emergency Response teams were activated to manage the incidents and prevent further spillage.

“As soon as clean-up and site assessment are completed, we are committed to starting the immediate remediation of the impacted areas in Aghoro and Odimodi,” the spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, details of the cause and impact of the spills will be captured in the Joint Investigation Visits (JIV) reports, which will be released after sign-off by all parties.

“The JIV is a multi-party exercise involving the regulators, the community, representatives of the state government, security agencies, and representatives of SPDC. The outcome is then signed off by the stakeholders to authenticate the findings,” the spokesperson explained.

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Shell is best in Technology & Innovation @Petroleum Summit

NaijaAgroNet:

The Subsea Tree Refurbishment feat by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in-country, drew a deafening applause as it earned Shell Companies in Nigeria the Best Performing International Company in Technology and Innovation at the awards night of the maiden edition of the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The state-organised event was attended by Nigerian and international industry leaders.

SNEPCo pioneered the in-country feat and achieved significant savings in the cost of the subsea equipment led by Nigerian engineers. A Subsea Tree is an arrangement of valves and other components installed at the wellhead to control and monitor production flow and manage fluids injection. SNEPCo embarked on a Tree Refurbishment initiative in 2013 to ensure timely delivery of the equipment at lower cost for the Bonga Phase 2 project, an in-field wells delivery and hook–up programme within the Bonga Field which has been in execution since 2007.

On hand to receive the award presented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, were the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, and the Managing Director of SNEPCo, Mr. Bayo Ojulari.

An excited Okunbor described the award as a recognition of the pioneering role of Shell Companies in Nigeria in local capacity development and Nigeria content. “We are pleased that this feat has continued to receive recognition within and outside Nigeria. Beyond cost consideration, we were also looking to indigenise the know-how so that Nigerian engineers can acquire the necessary skills,” he said.

Speaking on the award, Ojulari said, “This is a success story not only for Shell but for Nigeria. The first Subsea Tree under the programme was installed on schedule in May 2015. This was the first of its kind re-using a Subsea Tree fully stripped down and refurbished locally in Nigeria, with all of its original functionality restored.

“The scope of work entailed the retrieval of the Subsea Trees for disassembly, repair and rebuild following procedures developed by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to international standards and codes. The work was done at the OEM/SNEPCo logistics base at Onne in Rivers State with Nigerian engineers and technicians playing key roles. The quick turnaround of these Trees has helped to increase oil production in the Bonga field. The expenditure on this work in Nigeria aligns with the cost of similar Subsea Tree refurbishment in Europe. We have since sustained the in-country refurbishment.”

SNEPCo saves about $6 million for every refurbished Subsea Tree, and this is delivered within 15 months as against 36 months for newly manufactured ones.

SNEPCo helped to create the first generation of Nigerian deep water professionals through the Bonga project which started production in 2005, as Nigeria’s first oil and gas production project in more than 1,000 metres of water. The project was expanded with further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field in August 2014, which has peak production of approximately 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Bonga Phase 3 achieved first oil in October 2015.

SNEPCo operates Bonga field on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production (Deepwater Ltd)–Exxon, Total E&P Nigeria Ltd – Total and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd – ENI. The other Shell Companies in Nigeria are SPDC and Shell Nigeria Gas.

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Pix: L-R: Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor; and the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, during the presentation of The Best International Company in Technology and Innovation to Shell at the 2018 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit held in Abuja… on Monday.

Rivers, Shell sign MoU on gas supply

NaijaAgroNet:

The Rivers State Government and Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the distribution of gas to industries in the Greater Port Harcourt area and its environs, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The MoU, NaijaAgroNet gathered, sets out broad terms and conditions to guide co-operation between the two parties in the development of new gas distribution opportunities in the Greater Port Harcourt area and its environs in addition to its existing gas distribution network in the State.

"The agreement is key in the efforts of the government to boost industrialization in Rivers State," said Richard Hart, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, who signed for the government. "We believe that the agreed terms in the MoU will lead to the signing of the "Build-Operate-Own-and Transfer" (BOOT) agreement early next year so businesses can begin to reap the benefits of a steady source of energy."

SNG Managing Director, Ed Ubong who signed for the company said the partnership was an opportunity to further promote gas as a more reliable, cleaner and cost-effective alternative to liquid fuels in the Niger Delta.

"Gas is the key to boosting industrialization. It is no coincidence that states that currently do well on internal revenue generation have also encouraged the use of gas to boost industrial output, which in turn provides employment and improved livelihood. SNG is grateful to the Rivers State Government for the foresight and co-operation in the signing of the MoU, and will reciprocate the gesture by taking every step to fulfill its obligations in the agreement," he said.

Also commenting on the significance of the MoU, Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor reiterated the leadership role of Shell in the domestic gas market.

"For more than 50 years, Shell has been in the forefront of the campaign to develop and monetize Nigeria's huge resources and it is good to see SNG continuing in the tradition to grow the domestic gas market and also help to improve lives and earnings in Rivers State," Okunbor said.

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