The Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mr. Jeroen van der Veer, on Wednesday said he would meet with President Umaru Yar�Adua on Friday to discuss security and energy funding.
Van der Veer also insisted that �conditions must improve� before the oil firm could resume production that was cut because of unrest in the oil rich Niger Delta.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he told Dow Jones Newswires that he hoped Shell would regain its share of lost oil output but that �conditions must improve for us to restart production, and we�re not there yet.�
Veer�s visit might not be unconnected with the renewed spate of attacks on Shell and other multinational oil facilities in Nigeria.
In the past week, attacks on Shell oil pipeline had forced it to declare a force majeure, a condition that absolves it from contractual liabilities at its Forcados Export Terminal.
Furthermore, another operational problem had forced it to delay crude exports from its Bonny Export Terminal.
Speaking about the meeting, he said, �We have lots to talk about. It�s not only about security, it�s also about funding. The lack of funding for some projects has caused issues with meeting targets. It�s prevented us from ending all gas flaring.�
Confirming the meeting, Yar�Adua said he would seek more investment from Shell in Nigeria�s downstream energy sector.
The Federal Government had for long been wooing its joint venture partners, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and Agip, to invest in the downstream sector, particularly in refining and petrochemicals.
However, issues of cost recovery, margins and market regulation remain huge disincentives for the multinationals.
Yar�Adua said, �I want to extract from him a commitment to invest in the downstream sector in Nigeria.�