Mkpoikana Udoma 04 August 2016, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – The Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, has said it has no plans to recommence oil production in Ogoniland.
SPDC also described as baseless and untrue, allegations that it is using the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, to cause division amongst Ogoni people and derail the Ogoni environmental remediation and restoration process as recommended by the UNEP report.
Recall that the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, alleged recently that Shell was using the NPDC – a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC – to resume oil exploration and production in Ogoniland.
The Ogonis had also raised the alarm that the present attempt to resume oil production in the area was a ploy by SPDC and the NPDC, both of whom are joint venture partners, to stall the implementation of the UNEP report.
But the Nigerian arm of the Dutch multinational oil company, through its spokesperson, Mr. Precious Okolobo, told our correspondent in Port Harcourt that SPDC had no plans to resume operations in the area.
According to Okolobo, “SPDC remains committed to play its part in implementing the recommendations of the UNEP Report. SPDC has no plans to resume oil production in Ogoni land.”
