OpeOluwani Akintayo
10 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company, SNEPCo, has hinted on an ongoing collaboration with the operator of the free trade zone, the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics, LADOL in the construction of a new Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO in Lagos.
Managing Director, SNEPCo and General Manager Deepwater, Bayo Ojulari made this known in Lagos during acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to LADOL on Friday.
According to him, just like the Egina FPSO, the newly proposed FPSO will be erected in LADOL’s Base as the company prepares to move its base from Onne in Port Harcourt to Lagos.
“…we are happy to announce that SNEPCo will be working on beat the record of the Egina FPSO. Shell’s next FPSO will be the largest, and of course, it will be on LADOL’s soil,” he said.
Speaking on the recent protest by Onne youths against the company’s relocation, Ojulari said the decision is not a unilateral one, as the relocation of its FPSO and supply base had already been approved by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Explaining the benefits SNEPCo will derive from moving its base to Lagos, Ojulari said it will reduce the company’s vessel use by 50 percent, save fuel consumption by 50 percent, and save the exposure of its staff in the deepwater to risks by 50 percent.
Onne Youth Council, OYC, had on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest at the company urging it to ‘rescind’ its alleged plan to relocate its supply base from Onne to Lagos.
Last Thursday, supposed workers of the company in a statement circulated to the media said the plan to relocate from the Oil & Gas Export Free Zone in Onne, Rivers State to Lagos Port violated the federal government’s directive to oil companies against relocating their operational bases from the Niger Delta region.
One of the affected workers, Edward Otaru, described the planned relocation of the company’s operational base as “hurried and ill-advised” and “against the interest of the Niger Delta region.”
However, SNEPCo’s spokesperson, Bamidele Odugbesan, had dismissed the alleged planned relocation as “fake news”. He asked members of the public to disregard it.
SNEPCo, the deep-water exploration, and production subsidiary of Shell Nigeria operate in Nigeria’s deep-water oil and gas production acreage at the Bonga oil field.
Mr. Odugbesan also said the name of the signatory of the statement purportedly issued by SNEPCo workers (Mr. Otaru) was not found in the global address list of Shell workers around the world.
Besides, the spokesperson said, Mr. Otaru was not known as the leader of any of the oil workers’ unions, namely Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG authorised to speak on behalf of the workers.
He said SNEPCo, which operates offshore, has always had its headquarters in Lagos and not Onne in Port Harcourt.
Although he said Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC operates in Onne, Mr. Odugbesan said he was not aware of any plan or directive for the company to relocate from Onne.
“The only plan I am aware of is that SNEPCo, which has been making use of SPDC’s logistics supply base operated in Onne, is trying to develop its own alternative supply base in Lagos. SNEPCo is not planning to relocate any of its operations from anywhere to Lagos,” he said.