Shell Refutes Violating Nigerian Content Law In Bayelsa

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) on Wednesday has refuted allegations that it has broken the legislation on Nigerian Content at the EA fields in Bayelsa.

In violation of the community content rules, the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) claimed that the SPDC had banned indigenous players from its activities at the EA fields on Monday.

According to NAN, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board established the content rules (NCDMB).

The youth organisation also stated that it would mobilise for a demonstration that, if the policy was not changed, would halt operations in the oil fields in order to oppose any scheme to exclude members of the host community.

The organisation also pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Petroleum, and the management of NNPC Limited to persuade SPDC to reconsider and return the peaceful nature of the host communities.

According to NAN, SPDC uses a floating production, storage, and offloading (FSPO) vessel with a 1.4 million barrel capacity to manage the EA shallow offshore oilfield off the coast of Bayelsa.

In response to claims that it had violated the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD), SPDC asserted that on the contrary, it had played a key role in the growth of regional expertise in the oil and gas industry.

Shell granted contracts totaling $1.9 billion to Nigerian businesses, according to a statement from Abimbola Essien-Nelson, SPDC Media Relations Manager. Shell also collaborates with NCDMB to increase the capability of Nigerian businesses in the oil and gas industry.

“The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited Joint Venture (SPDC JV) is committed to the development of businesses in the Niger Delta.

“Working with government and community stakeholders, we have supported capacity development in several Niger Delta-owned businesses.

“The case in hand is a scheduled review of our logistics contracting process that has been in place for years.

"The review was supervised by the NNPC Upstream Investments Management Services  (NUIMS) and the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

“It was, however, conducted via an open and transparent bidding process which resulted in the entrance of several new contractors.

“The bid winners consist some of these new companies, as well as companies previously involved in the contract.

“All the bid winners, which are Nigerian companies, demonstrated their commercial and technical competences, as well as compliance with Nigerian Content regulations,” SPDC stated.

The energy company vowed to keep fostering the growth of regional businesses and communities.

According to the report, contracts worth $1.9 billion were given to businesses with Nigerian registrations by the SPDC Joint Venture, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), and Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) in 2022.

“Additionally, in 2022, the SPDC JV, SNEPCo and SNG invested $5.6 million in education programmes and contributed $34.29 million in direct social investment.

“Social investment was mainly in projects related to community, health, education, road safety and enterprise programmes.

“These projects are often implemented in partnership with local authorities and contractors.

“In addition, $56.13 million has been earmarked to be paid in 2023 by the SPDC JV and SNEPCo for a statutory contribution to Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDTs), which will benefit Nigerian communities,” it stated.