14 March 2014, Lagos – Shell, the giant oil and gas firm, is downbeat at its prospects in Nigeria where it has borne the brunt of insecurity challenges and theft.
In its annual report, the Dutch firm, disclosed the challenges had contributed to the lower returns.
The company produced 3.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) in 2013.
Sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) totaled 19.6 million tonnes.
“Both were lower than the previous year, mainly due to the difficult operating environment in Nigeria,” Shell stated.
The company painted a grim picture of its operations locally.
“In our Nigerian operations we face various risks and adverse conditions, some of which have deteriorated during the year.
“These risks include security issues surrounding the safety of our people, host communities and operations, sabotage and theft, our ability to enforce existing contractual rights, limited infrastructure and potential legislation that could increase our taxes or costs of operation,” the company stated on Thursday.
It also raised concern that the Nigerian government was contemplating new legislation to govern the petroleum industry.
“If passed into law, (legislation) would likely have a significant adverse impact on Shell’s existing and future activities in that country.”
– CajNews Africa