Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe�s largest oil company has pledged to restore lost production output in Nigeria and return its staff only when it is safe to do so.
The United Kingdom had on Friday, advised all Britons to leave the troubled Niger Delta region, particularly Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states because of the high risk of kidnapping and other armed attacks.
Although there is no official directive to that effect, Shell said it would support the relocation of any Briton or expatriate staff by �providing them with flights and other logistics,� Shell�s Nigerian office said in Lagos on Sunday.
�The President, Umaru Musa Yar�Adua, has said in his first days, very clear, that he is very concerned about the situation and that he will take action,� Shell Chief Executive Officer, Jeroen Van der Veer, said on Saturday in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia. �I can�t forecast when our staff will go back.�
Despite the continued turmoil in Nigeria, which caused production loss of 477,000 barrels per day, or the fact that the Nigerian government skims off 95 per cent of the profits for the oil production on land, Shell said it had no plans to pull out from the oil-rich region.
With its 70 years operating experience, Shell, at its Annual General Meeting of shareholders in Scheveningen, the Netherlands in May, instead said, it wanted to greatly expand production, including oil production at sea.
�The world simply needs the energy from Nigeria,� Van der Veer told shareholders at the meeting.
Shell�s Nigerian joint oil venture has lost hundreds of thousands of barrels in daily production from the western Niger Delta since early 2006, because of militant violence. Van der Veer said on April 5 that lost output might resume �in months.�
Crude oil exports from the Forcados terminal, operated by Shell�s Nigerian venture, have stopped for more than a year. Van der Veer said he did not know when they would resume.
While high oil prices have bolstered Shell�s profit, the Nigerian losses contributed to a one per cent decline in its global oil and gas production last year and the company, headquartered in The Hague, has also had to trim forecasts for output growth.
Although conditions remain �extremely difficult� even as �everyday there is sabotage and oil leaks,� the Shell chief said he would stick to previous �conservative� guidance for the company�s 2007 production, in which �we have assumed that no major production is coming back� in Nigeria.
Once it is safe for staff to return, Shell will need to check equipment, some of which had been left unattended for a year, before it can restart production, Van der Veer said.