AN OFFSHORE union leader has called on all British oil companies including oil rigs to pull out of the volatile Niger Delta region owing to the rising level of disruption to oil and gas exploration and production activities in area.
The call followed the kidnapping of Gordon Gray by a gang of militants armed with AK47 assault rifles who stormed the Bulford Dolphin drilling rig, about 40 miles off the Nigerian coast. He has since been released unconditionally.
Mr Gray, of Crieff, is employed by Aberdeen-based Dolphin Drilling. The father of one was allowed to speak to representatives of the Nigerian oil company during his captivity well.
Graham Tran, a regional officer of Amicus, one of the North Sea�s major unions, demanded a complete withdrawal of British companies from the region until the safety of foreign workers can be guaranteed.
Mr Tran said the lead in declaring the Niger Delta a �no-go� area had already been taken by Aberdeen-based PSN, one of Scotland�s largest private firms with more than 8,000 staff.
�How many more people have to be killed or kidnapped before other companies get the message?� He added.
In June last year, two Scottish oil workers were amongst the eight foreign workers who were kidnapped in an earlier attack by armed rebels on the same drilling platform.
Last October, three Scottish oilmen were held hostage for 18 terrifying days in a Nigerian swamp after a gang of militants stormed a contractors� compound near Port Harcourt.
And, last November, an oil worker from Teesside was killed during a bungled rescue attempt after being taken hostage from an oil-supply ship off the Nigerian coast.
A spokesman for Dolphin drilling said: �The fact is that the rigs out there are more secure than they are practically anywhere else in the world.�
Checks revealed that the eleven rig managers working off Nigeria are international companies with international workers. The majority of the rigs working offshore Nigeria belong to US-based companies.
Only Stena Drilling, which has just one rig, the Stena Tay semisubmersible, is a UK-based company that would be directly affected by the Amicus call for withdrawal of UK-based companies from operating in Nigeria.
However, Nigeria�s security issues affect every country represented by those 11 drilling contractors whose workers hail from nearly every corner of the globe. While Amicus� call for improved safety measures in Nigeria may be the first of its kind, it may not be last.
Vanguard gathered that such rig managers from around the world may find it increasingly difficult to attract qualified workers to continue exploration and development work on Nigeria�s 31 offshore rigs if security doesn�t improve soon.
While the ongoing security problems and the call to leave Nigeria affects offshore drilling contractors, the larger impact is felt by the operators working to produce oil in the region. Shell is the largest oil producer in Nigeria, accounting for more than 900,000 b/d of Nigeria�s 2.4 MMb/d. The Dutch-Anglo giant is also the largest operator of offshore rigs in Nigeria. Equator Exploration, whose worker was kidnapped last week, is the only other UK-based operator with rigs working offshore Nigeria.
Nigeria is already seeing oil production fall off due to the disruption caused by kidnappings, sabotage, and social unrest. Officials have said that Nigeria lost $4.4 billion last year as a result of reduced output.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government last week launched the 2007 licensing round for oil and gas blocks. However, considering that operators have only a month to place a bid, the state of security in the Niger Delta, and the upcoming change of government, there are indications that the round may not draw the majors and large independents Nigeria is accustomed to attracting.
At the same time, this could represent an opportunity for operators to secure acreage in
Nigeria at cheaper prices than might otherwise be possible.